y.^.S.?./.; 


Srom  f^e  feifirari?  of 

(Ret?,  ©.ffen  Jg^^^g  Q5rott?n,  ©.  ®. 

QSequeat^e^  fig  ^im  to 
i^c  feifirari?  of 

(Princeton  C^eofogicaf  ^eminarg 

BX  8935  .H57  1893 

A  history  of  the  laying  of 
the  corner  stone  of  the 


Jn/LM^  ^  ^^'  fJv>i-2^^^*^-wv 


HISTORY^-;--;-;^ 


OF  THE 


Laying  of  the  Corner  Stone 


OF 


The  Presbyterian  Church, 


y 


BRIDQETON,  N.  J. 

looth  Anniversary, 


July  26th,  1892. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REEVE  &  FITHIAN,  BRIDQETON,  N.  J. 


1893. 

GEO.  W.  McCOWAN,  PIONEER  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINT, 
Bridgeton,  N.  J. 


-^  \ 


U 

W 

K 
W 
A. 
C 
O 


PREFACE. 


The  celebration  of  the  Centenary  of  Bridgeton  Presby- 
terianism  was  an  event  that  will  never  be  forgotten.  The 
elaborate  preparations  made,  including  ever\^  detail  of  the 
programme,  reflected  credit  on  the  business  management 
of  the  Centennial  Association.  But  the  success  was  even 
greater  than  the  mo.st  sanguine  had  dared  expect.  The 
daj^  dawned  bright  and  beautiful, but  so  warm  that  the  mer- 
cur}^  climbed  steadily  upward  till  by  noon  it  touched 
ninety-eight  degrees.  Yet  Bridgeton' s  enthusiasm  was 
nothing  daunted  by  the  torrid  temperature.  Early  in  the 
morning  the  old  church  yard  became  the  scene  of  life  and 
activity,  and  as  the  day  wore  on,  multitudes  sought  the 
historic  spot  to  join  in  the  festivities  of  the  occasion.  Al- 
most every  town  in  South  Jersey  was  represented,  arid 
manj'  people  from  a  greater  distance  came  to  rene-w  old  as- 
sociations and  revive  sacred  traditions. 

A  large  platform  had  been  erected  under  the  spreading 
trees  of  the  churchj-ard,  where  seats  had  been  provided 
for  the  speakers  and  singers.  The  auditorium  in  which 
the  people  assembled,  was  unconsecrated,  but  not  less  hal- 
lowed than  Westminster  Abbey.  Its  walls  were  the  open 
sky,  its  roof  the  rustling  leaves  of  intertwined  branches; 
its  background  the  church  of  the  father's,  now  a  centur\- 
old;  and  participating  with  the  living  as  interested  spec- 
tators seemed  to  be  the  more  than  seven  thousand  sleep- 
ing ones  whose  graves  lay  beneath  our  feet. 


4 

Besides  papers  of  local  interest,  eloquent  addresses 
were  made  by  distinguished  visitors.*  The  music  ren- 
dered by  a  large  and  well  trained  choir  was  inspiring. 
The  ladies  served  a  sumptuous  luncheon  at  mid-day.  In 
the  old  church  was  given  a  rare  exposition  of  historic 
curiosities  collected  by  the  indefatigable  zeal  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Relics.  And  so  the  day  passed,  everything 
combining  to  promote  its  success,  and  no  accident  marring 
its  pleasure. 

An  occasion  of  such  significance,  it  is  felt,  should  have 
some  permanent  memorial.  At  least  the  historic  results 
of  the  day  should  be  gathered  up  and  fittingly  preserved. 
This  thought  has  taken  shape  in  this  little  volume.  In 
it  are  collected  the  principal  papers  read  and  a  few  of  the 
many  letters  from  absent  friends.  It  is  believed  that 
while  such  a  book  will  be  of  special  interest  to  Bridgeton 
Presbyterians,  it  will  not  be  without  value  to  a  wider 
circle  of  readers.  We  recall  the  fact  that  the  earlier 
periods  of  our  history  as  a  church  belong  to  the  town 
itself  not  less  than  to  ourselves.  Like  the  branches  of  a 
tree,  all  the  churches  and  institutions  of  Bridgeton  centre 
about  this  common  stock.  This  fact  has  given  a  peculiar 
unity  and  homogeneity  to  our  city.  May  this  continue 
and  develop  as  the  years  go  by. 

*  These  are  not  all  found  in  this  volume  because  it  was  deemed 
necessary  to  exclude  all  matter  that  is  not  strictly  historic. 


■pre^byterian    ©entennial    /\550ciation, 
OF  BRIDGETON,  N.  J. 

ORGANIZED,    APRIL    21,     1892. 

OFFICERS. 

RKV.  SYLVESTER  W.  BEACH,  Prescient. 
REV.  HEBERH.  BEADLE,   »    y^,,  p,,,Ue>,ts. 
REV.  WM.  J.  brid(;es,         > 
JAMES  J    REEVES,  Corresponding  Secretary. 
CHARLES  B   MOORE,  Recording  Secretary. 
THOMAS  U.  HARRIS,  Treasurer, 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

First  Church:— Robert  M.  Seeley,   Henry  A.  Jordeii,  Jonathan 

Elmer,  Alex  R.  Fithian,  Jas.  J.  Reeves. 

Second  Church:— Judge  James   R,    Hoagland,    Eli   E.    Rogers, 

Chas.  Reeve, David  McBride,  Thos.  U.  Harris. 

West  Church:— Charles  S.  Padgett,    Henry   W.  Elmer,    M.  D., 

Daniel  Elmer,  Wm.   B.  Nixon,  Chas.  B.  Moore. 

SUB  COMMITTEES. 

Arrangements:  — David  McBride,  Henry  A.  Jorden,  Jonathan 
Elmer,  Eli  E.  Rogers,  Rev.  W.  J.  Bridges 
Daniel  Elmer,  Judge  James  R.  Hoagland. 

Invitations:— Rev.  H.  H.  Beadle,  Rev.  W.  J.  Bridges,  Rev.  S.  W. 
Beach,  James  J.  Reeves. 

Programme: — David  McBride,  Rev.  W.J.  Bridges,  H.  A.  Jorden. 

Finance: — EH  E.  Rogers,  Daniel  Elmer,  Robert  M.  Seeley. 

RE-union;— William  B.  Nixon,  Charles  Reeve,  Alex  R.  Fithian. 

Music:— Henry  W.  Elmer,  M.  D  ,Eli  E.  Rogers,  Rev.S.W.  Beach. 

Printing: — Alex  R.  Fithian,   Charles  Reeve,   Charles  S.  Padgett. 

Relics:— Dr.  Jos-ph  Sheppard,Dr.  Chas.  H.  Dare,  Robt.  B.  Potter. 


6 

LADIES'  CENTENNIAL  COMMITTEE. 

MISS  NANCY  P.  ELMER,  President. 
MISS  EMILY  B.  FITHIAN,  Secretary. 
MRS.  ROBERT  N.  HUSTED,  Treasurer. 

First  Church:— Miss  Nancy  P.  Elmer,  Miss  Emily  B  Fithian, 
Mrs.  Francis  R.  Fithian,  Mrs.  Henry  Graham,  Mrs.  J. 
Lewden  Robeson,  Mrs.  Jonathan  Elmer,  Miss  Julia  F. 
Elmer,  Mrs.  Sylvester  W.  Beach,  Miss  Mattie  R 
Janvier,  Mrs.  Francis  B.  Minch,  JMrs.  John  M.  Laning, 
Miss  Phebe  Riley. 

Second  Church:— Mrs.  Samuel  Allen,  Mrs.  William  Brunyate, 
Mrs.  Benj.  F.  Harding,  Mrs.  Charles  Reeve,  Mrs 
Samuel  P  Fithian,  Mrs.  Thos.  W.  Williams,  Mrs 
William  W.  Robbins.  Mrs.  John  Ogden,  Mrs.  James 
L  Whitaker,  Miss  Ann  R.  Fithian,  Mrs.  David  Mc- 
Bride,  Mrs.  Robert  N.  Husted,  Miss  Carrie  Ware 

West  Church: — Mrs.  Charles  B.  Moore,  Mrs.  William  H.  H. 
Elwell,  Mrs.  Phoebus  W.  Lyon,  Mrs.  William  E. 
Riley,  Mrs.  William  A  Logue,  Mrs.  Richard  Tren ch- 
ard, Mrs.  Ed.  S.  Holmes,  Mrs.  William  J  Bridges, 
Miss  Julia  Frame,  Miss  Phoebe'Fithiau,  Miss  Carrie 
B-.ck,  Miss  Caroline  H.  Moore. 


PROGRA/n/VlE. 


MORNING   SESSION — IN    THE  OLD    CHURCH  YARD,   BEGIN- 
NING AT  lO  o'clock. 


1 .  PRAYER,  Rev.  Leonidas  E.  Coyle. 

2.  HYMN,—"  'Tis  by  Thy  strength  the    mountains 

stand."  —  Tune,  Rainbow. 

3.  SCRIPTURE  READING. 

4.  THE     HISTORY     OF     "THE    CENTENNIAL 

ASSOCIATION."     • 

Rev.  Sylvester  W.  Beach. 

5.  ANTHEM.     By  the  Centennial  Choir, 

Mr.  Thomas  R.  Janvier,  Director. 

6.  BRIDGETOWN  BEFORE  1792. 

The  laying  of  the  Corner  Stone,  and  the 
History  of  the  Church  until  the  Dedi- 
cation of  the  Building  in  1795, 

Col.  Wm.  E.  Potter. 

7.  HYMN. — "Lord,  what  a  thoughtless  wretch  was  I." 

Tune,  Greenwich. 

8.  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

From  the  Pastorate  of  Rev.  Wm. 
Clarkson,  M.  D.,  to  that  of  the  Rev. 
John  Kennedy,  with  a  sketch  of  Rev. 
Jonathan  Freeman. 

Rev.  Henr\^  Reeves,  Ph.  D. 


9.     ANTHEM, 

By  the  Centennial  Choir, 

10.  REV,  SAMX,  BEACH  JONES,  D.  D.  AND  HIS 

TIMES, 

Rev,  Allen  H.  Brown, 

1 1 .  HYMN- — "Oh,  where  are  kings  and  empires  now. ' ' 

Tune,  St.  Martins. 

12.  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  MUSIC  AND  HYMN- 

OEOGY  IN  BRIDGETON, 

Mrs.  Rob't.  DuBois. 

13.  IMPROMPTU  REMARKS  BY  VISITORS. 

14.  E.  M.  DOXOEOGY, 
15..     BENEDICTION. 

DINNER  was  served  on  the  grounds 
of  the  West  Jersey  Academy,  opposite 
the  old  church. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION — IN    THE    OLD    CHURCH    YARD,    BE- 
GINNING AT  2.30  o'clock. 

1.  HYMN. — "While   shepherds  watched  their  flocks 

hy  night," 

Tune,  Sherburne 

2.  PRAYER. 

3.  ANTHEM.  By  the  Centennial  Choir. 

4.  HISTORY  OF  THE   SECOND   CHURCH   AND 

ITS  PASTORS. 

Rev.  Heber  H.  Beadle. 

5.  HYMN. — "Why  do  we  mourn  departing  friends." 

Tune,  China. 


9 

6.  HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  CHURCH. 

From  the  Pastorate  of  Rev.    Ca.spar 
R.  Gregory,  D.  D.  to  the  prtsent  time, 

Rev.  Sylvester  W.  Beach. 

7.  ANTHEM.  By  the  Centennial  Choir. 

8.  HISTORY  OF  THE  WEST  CHURCH, 

Rev.  William  J.  Bridges. 

9.  HISTORY  OF  THE  WEST  JERSEY  ACADEMY. 

Prof.  Phoebus  W.  Eyon. 

10.  HYAIN.  —  "All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name." 

Time,  Coronation. 

11.  HISTORY  OF  PEARL  STREET  MISSION  AND 

EAST  BRIDGETON  CHAPEL, 

Mr.  P.  Kennedy  Reeves. 

12.  "PROGRESSIVE  PRESBYTERIANISM," 

Mr.  Rob't.  C.  Ogden,  Philadelphia. 

13.  HYMN. — "Lo  what  a  glorious  .sight  appears  to  our 

believing  e3'es! 

Tunc,  Northfield. 

14.  CENTENNIAL  ODE, 

Mr.  John  Reeves,  Philadelphia. 

15.  IMPROMPTU  REMARKS  BY  VISITORS. 

16.  BENEDICTION. 

EVENING  SESSION— IN   THE    FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH. 

REV.  MOSES  D.  HOGE,  D.  D.,  L.  L.  D., 

Delivered  an  Oration  on   "Presbyterian  Principles." 
The  Centennial  Choir  rendered  special  music. 


lO 

Historical    Statement  by    Rev.  Sylvester  W. 

Beach,     President  of    the   Rresby terian 

Centennial   Association. 

Ladies  and  Cicntlcmeii: — We  are  here  to-day  to  cele- 
brate an  event  of  stirring  interest  to  all  of  us  in  general, 
and  to  Bridgeton  Presbyterians  in  particular.  Tiiis  day, 
one  hu'.iArel  years  ago,  an  assembly  was  gathered  oa  this 
very  spot,  and  with  fitting  ceremonies  the  corner  stone 
of  a  Presbyterian  Cliurch  was  laid.  By  a  common  im- 
pulse we  have  been  moved  to  celebrate  the  day.  The 
historjy^  of  the  movement  that  culminates  in  the  event  of 
to-day,  I  am  called  upon  briefly  t3  rehearse.  The  Ses- 
sion of  the  First  Church  at  their  regular  monthly  meeting, 
Feb.  2d,  1892,  took  the  following  action,  after  a  thorough 
discussion  of  the  subject: 

Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Session,  the  Centennial 
of  Presbyterianism  in  Bridgeton,  which  occurs  this  year,  shouUi  be 
suitably  observed,  and  we  hereby  call  upon  the  Sessions  of  the 
other  two  churches  to  unite  with  us,  if  the  matter  commends  itself 
to  their  judgment,  in  taking  steps  to  arrange  for  a  suitable  cele- 
bration. 

Resulting  from  this  call,  a  joint  meeting  of  the  three 
sessions  was  held,  and  it  was  decided  to  call  together  the 
congregations  to  consider  the  question.  This  meeting 
was  held  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Chapel,  April  21,  1892. 
After  a  general  discussion  of  the  subject,  it  was  unani- 
mously resolved  to  hold  a  Centennial  Celebration  at  some 
time  during  the  year,  and  an  Executive  Committee  was 
appointed  to  fix  upon  the  date,  and  go  forward  in  arrang- 
ing the  details  of  the  Celebration.  An  Executive  Com- 
mittee was  constituted. 

They  decided  upon  July  26th  as  the  date  of  the  Cele- 
bration, as  the  time  most  significant  and  suitable,  it  being 


II 

the  day  of  the  la3-ing  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  old 
Church. 

Sub-committees  on  the  following  subjects  were  ap- 
pointed: Arrangements,  Invitations,  Programme, 
Finance,  Re-union,  Music,  Printing  and  Relics;  and  a 
Committee  of  ladies. 

The  Work  of  the  Executive  Committee  is  now  practi- 
cally completed,  and  they  present  to  you  to-day  as  a  re- 
sult of  their  labors,  the  program  which  is  now  before  you. 
To  all  our  people  the  warmest  thanks  are  due  for  their 
kindly  co-operation  throughout,  in  the  w^ork  of  preparing 
for  this  day.  We  welcome  you  one  and  all,  to  a  partici- 
pation in  the  festivities  of  this  glad  da}'.  A  note  of  sad- 
ness mingles  with  our  gladness,  for  the  surroundings  of 
this  place  remind  us  that  the  past  has  recorded  irretriev- 
able losses.  Especially  do  we  mourn  that  one,  the  most 
interested  of  all  perhaps  in  the  success  of  this  occasion, 
was  summoned  from  us  ere  the  da}-  dawned  to  which  he 
was  looking  forward  with  much  rejoicing.  I  refer  to 
our  beloved  friend,  Dr.  J.  Barron  Potter.  But  the  oc- 
casion has  more  of  sun-light  than  shadow.  We  are 
fj.ll  of  thanksgiving  for  the  glorious  histor>^  which  has 
given  so  noble  a  fame  to  Bridgeton  Presbyterianism.  We 
are  also  able  to  rejoice  in  the  present;  for  we  exhibit  in  our 
denomination  a  strong  and  unshaken  line  in  the  battle 
against  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil.  We  are  a 
united,  prosperous  and  growing  Church.  We  likewise 
contemplate  the  future  without  misgivings.  The  past 
makes  us  sure  of  the  days  to  come.  We  w^elcome  this 
day  in  the  confidence  that  the  future  has  in  store  for 
us  far  greater  things  than  our  past  history  can  tell. 

"Not  backward  are  our  faces  turned, 
But  onward  to  our  Father's  House." 


12 

Address  of  Col.  W.   E.   F'otter,  on  "Bridge 
Town   Before   1792." 

Mr.  Chairvian,  Brethren  and  Friends: — The  cere- 
monies of  this  day,  I  am  sure,  will  be  of  interest  to  all  in 
presence.  For  many  of  us,  indeed,  this  interest  is  col- 
ored by  sadness,  for  within  the  shadow  of  these  sacred 
walls,  and  under  the  over-arching  foliage  of  these  vener- 
able trees,  lie  the  graves  of  our  forefathers;  nay,  of  more 
than  these,  the  graves  of  those  knit  to  us  by  the  closest 
and  tenderest  ties  of  kinship  and  of  love. 

Within  the  area  of  this  cemetery  are  buried  the  mortal 
remains  of  nearly  four  thousand  persons,  a  number  thir- 
teen times  as  great  as  the  population  of  this  village  when 
the  corner-stone  of  this  building  was  laid.  The  mystic 
chords  of  memory  stretch  from  their  graves  to  almost 
ever>'  heart  and  hearthstone  within  the  limits  of  this 
count}^;  and  beyond  it,  wherever  the  restless  foot  of  ad- 
venture has  led  our  citizens  to  wander. 

These  walls  are  written  over,  these  ancient  pews  are 
deeply  engraven,  by  the  boyish  hands  of  our  kinsmen 
and  friends,  now  alas,  man}-  of  them,  long  since  dust  and 
ashes.  Some  of  us,  mere  prattlers  by  our  mothers'  sides, 
have  here  attended  divine  service;  others  have  been 
scholars  at  the  Sunday  School;  many  others  of  us,  from 
childhood,  have  been  accustomed  to  come  here  while  the 
last  glories  of  departing  day  lingered  in  the  West, 
and  among  these  monuments  stained  with  the  sunset  of 
a  hundred  years,  to  meditate  upon  the  brevity  of  life,  the 
certainty  of  death. 

Under  these  circumstances, and  with  these  tender  mem- 
ories, pressing  upon  us,  that  heart  must  indeed  be  flint- 
like which  is  not  this  da}' thrilled  with  profound  emotion. 

It  is  a  solemn  and  saddening  reflection  that  of  all  of  the 


13 
8ooo  inhabitants  of  this  county  of  whose  birth  we  have 
authentic  record,   Hving  when  this  church  was    erected, 
but  one  survives. 

Born  upon  the  loth  day  of  May,  1792,  the  venerable 
Dr.  Enoch  Fithian,  of  Greenwich,  still  lives;  lives  in  the 
recollection  of  a  well-spent  life;  lives  in  the  affections  of 
the  W'hole  community;  lives  in  sure  hope  of  an  early  en- 
trance into   life   and    happiness   which    will    be  eternal. 

May  the  pra^-ers  and  songs  of  praise  of  this  day  be 
wafted  to  his  retired  dwelling,  and  breathe  a  new  bene- 
diction through  his  silver  hairs. 

BRIDGETON  BEFORE   I  792. 

The  historj'  of  this  church  is  practically  coincident  in 
time,  with  that  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 
In  1792,  the  Revolution  had  been  ended  nine  years;  the 
\vear>'  vexations  and  unsatisfactory  period  of  the  Confed- 
eracy had  passed,  and  upon  its  ruins  had  been  laid,  broad 
and  deep,  and  broader  and  deeper  than  even  its  builders 
knew,  the  foundations  of  our  present  government.  The 
young  men  who  fought  the  battles  of  the  war  had  be- 
come the  leading  men  in  every  community  throughout 
the  country.  The  matchless  financial  abilit}' of  Hamil- 
ton, aided  by  the  strong  and  sure  support  of  Washington, 
had  brought  order  out  of  chaos  in  the  finances  of  the  new 
nation;  and  the  government,  like  a  noble  ship,  had  borne 
its  way  through  the  icy  and  stormy  seas  of  adversity,  and 
almost  of  despair,  and  with  favoring  breezes  was  now 
.sailing  in  smoother  waters. 

The  thrill  of  a  new  prosperity  began  to  be  felt  along 
all  the  nerves  of  commerce  and  trade.  There  is  evidence 
tending  to  show  that  these  influences  reached  even  tlie 
small  and  remote  hamlet  then  known  as  "Bridge  Town.'" 

By  an  actual  enumeration  of  its  inhabitants  made  in 


1792,  the  population  of  "Bridge  Town"  was  300.  There 
were  probably  not  more  than  fi%  dwelling  houses  in  the 
village. 

The  late  Judge  Elmer  in  his  counts^  histors-  states,  that 
nearl}^  all  the  dwelling  houses  in  existence  in  1800  can 
be  identified,  and  he  enumerates  32  upon  the  east  side  of 
the  river  and  37  upon  the  west  side,  and  the  total  num- 
ber of  69.  That  portion  of  the  village  west  of  the  river  was 
parcel  of  the  township  of  Hopewell;  and  that  east  of  the 
river  was  parcel  of  the  township  of  Deerfield.  Cumberland 
County  was  set  off  from  the  County  of  Salem  by  an  act 
of  Assembl}'  passed  January-  19,  1747- 1748.  It  was 
named  after  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  son  of  King 
George  II,  who  had  recently  gained  the  victory  of  Cullo- 
den,  and  thereby  permanently  established  the  House  of 
Hanover  upon  the  throne  of  Great  Britain. 

The  original  location  of  the  village  was  doubtless  due 
to  the  fact  that  it  was  at  the  head  of  navigation  and  the 
contour  of  the  banks  of  the  river  was  such  as  to  make  it 
practicable  to  bridge  the  stream. 

For  many  years,  and  even  within  the  memory  of  those 
now  living,  the  village  vv^as  called,  locally,  "The  Bridge;" 
At  an  earlier  period  it  was  known  as  "Cohansej-  Bridge." 

In  1792  there  was  little  wealth  in  this  community,  and 
no  one  man  of  large  property,  except  two  or  three  per- 
sons who  held  title  to  lands,  which  afterward  enriched 
them  or  their  descendants. 

Nearly  all  the  families  raised,  killed,  and  cured  their 
own  pork  and  beef,  and  spun  their  own  clothing  and 
bedding,  which  was  afterwards  woven  either  by  them- 
selves or  by  persons  who  followed  the  business.  Their 
fuel  was  wood  cut  in  the  adjacent  forests,  and  their  light 
was  furnished  by  candles  made  in  the  family. 


15 
Water  was  obtained   from   wells  easily    sunk   in    the 
porous  soil.     Tliere  was   an    absence  of  ver>^    many    o:" 
what  are  now  considered  not  luxuries  tut  necessities  of 
life.     In  many  houses  there  w^ere  no  glazed  windows, but 
only  apertures  cut  in  the  walls  of  the  houses  and  closed 
by  shutters.     The  journal  of  a  young  lady  who  visited 
in  Bridgeton  in  1786  records  that  she  travelled  to  Phila- 
delphia in  a  private  carriage,  that  the  journey  t3ok  two 
days,   and  that  the  party  stopped  the  first  night  at  the 
Pine  Tavern,  a  well  known  Inn;  and  she  complains  of 
the  scanty  bed-clothing,  and  that  the  windows  were  not 
glazed,  and  had  no  shutters,  only  boards  nailed  up,  and 
These  an  inch  apart.     The  highways,  the  country  over, 
.  were  horrible.     The  journey  by  stage  from  New  York  to 
Boston  occupied  in  good  weather  six  days,   and  in  bad 
weather  nine  days.     Persons  travelling  from  New  York 
to  Philadelphia  took  leave  of  their  friends  as  those  do 
who  now  cross  the   ocean.     Travellers   over   the  same 
route  were  often  obliged  to  wait  two  or  three  days  at  the 
Batter^'  in  New  York,  before  they  ventured  to  cross  to 
Paulus  Hook  on  the  Jersey  shore.     Bath-rooms,  outside 
of  the  large  cities,  at  least,  had  not  come  into  use.     The 
use  of  anthracite  coal  for  fuel,  of  illuminating  gas,  of  the 
telegraph,   the  telephone,    of  steam   locomotion,    of  the 
electric  light,  of  canned  fruits  and  vegetables,  of  matches, 
of  the  numberless  arts  and  devices  of  modern  life,  had,  of 
course,  not  been  discovered.     The  process  of  vaccination 
had  not  been  developed,  and  whole  families  in  Bridgeton 
as  elsewhere,  inoculated  with  the  virus  of  small-pox,  were 
quarantined  for  weeks,  until  the  period  of  infection  had 

passed. 

The   use   of  anaesthetics  and  of  antiseptics   was   un- 
known, and  the  methods  of  surger}'  as  of  medicine,  viewed 


i6 

in  the  light  of  the  present  day,  were  rude  if  not  barbar- 
ous. Fever  patients  were  saturated  with  mercury,  until 
not  infrequently  their  teeth,  and  sometimes  even  their 
tongues  fell  out,  and  a  cup  of  cold  water,  even  where  the 
thirst  raged  most  fiercely,  was  considered  fatal. 

It  was  a  cruel  age.  Our  ancestors  brought  with  them 
their  English  traditions.  They  were  familiar  with  the 
history  of  the  "Bloody  Assizes,"  during  which  after  the 
rebellion  of  Monmouth,  the  infamous  Judge  Jeffre3'S,  in 
one  circuit,  caused  to  be  condemned  and  executed  over 
300  persons;  they  recalled  the  later  rebellions  of  the  pre- 
tender in  1 7 15  and  1745,  and  the  confiscations  and  exe- 
cutions attendant  upon  them. 

These  memories  and  the  condition  of  public  sentiment 
in  those  days,  led  the  Fathers,  at  the  close  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, to  treat  the  Tories  with  very  great  severity.  Their 
property  was  confiscated;  their  lives  were  threatened. 
Hundreds  fled  to  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia,  other 
hundreds  to  England ;  and  there  lingering  out  a  brief  ex- 
istance,  died  far  away  from  home  and  kindred.  In  South 
Carolina,  upon  returning  to  their  homes  after  the  war, 
many  tories  were  shot  upon  the  spot,  without  justice  and 
trial.  In  northern  New  Jersey  they  were  stripped  naked, 
tarred  and  feathered,  and  driven  from  the  State. 

Even  in  Bridgeton,  a  tor^^  who  is  said  to  have  been 
one  of  the  guides  for  Simcoe's  column  to  the  infamous 
massacre  at  Hancock's  Bridge,  venturing  after  the  war 
to  visit  the  inn  kept  in  the  house  still  standing  upon  the 
SDuth-west  corner  of  Broad  and  Giles  streets,  was  so  vio- 
Hr.t'y  t'lrstt^ned,  t'lat  the  then  sheriff  of  the  county, 
frther  of  some  still  living,  was  forced,  in  order  to  save 
him  from  injury,  to  s^nd  him  out  of  the  town, 

Ncthing  shows  more  forcibl}-  the  improved  civilization 


17 
and  Christian  sentiment  of  this  day.  than  at  the  close  of 
the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  which  cost   not  less  than 

a  fa  milHon  lives,  and  a  treasure  so  vast  that  the  mmd   - 
shrinks  from  calculating  it,no  man  of  the  conquered  rebels 
suffered  for  his  treason  in  body  or  estate,  by  the  action 
of  the  United  States. 

The  condition  of  the  jails  the  country  over  in   .792. 
.vas  almost  beyond  belief.     They  were   nursenes  of  the 
most  open  and  flagrant  vice;  and  a  d.stmgu.shed  h  stor 
ian  has  stated  that  some  of  them  at  least,  would  compare 
unfavorably  with  the  Black  hole  of  Calcutta. 

In  ,792  the  criminal  laws  of  England,  like  those  of  , 
Draco,  may  be  said  to  have  been  written  in  blood  Over 
one  hundred  crimes,  from  stealing  a  pocket  handkerchief 
to  high  treason  were  punishable  ^"th  death;  some  of 
them  by  tortures  and  indignities  worse  than  death.  Our 
fathers  inherited  this  tendency  to  severity  ir.  their  cnm- 
inal  laws.  In  1787.  in  our  neighboring  State  o  Dela- 
ware, there  were  twenty  crimes  to  which  the  death  pen- 

altv  was  annexed.  n^-u    ,.      a 

In  Massachussetts  there  were  ten  such  crimes.  The  tread 
nnll  was  always  going.     The  shears,  the  brandmg  iron, 
and  the  lash  were  never  idle  for  a  day.     In  Philadelphia 
the   wheelbarrow   men    still    went    about   the  streets  m 
gan-s    or  appeared  with  huge  clogs  and  chains  hung  to 
their  necks.     In  Rhode  Island  for  many  offences,   a  per- 
petual mark  of  shame  was  imprinted  upon  the  culprit. 
The  counterfeiter  was  punished  with  the  loss  of  a  piece 
of  his  ear,  and  a  large  letter  C  was  deeply  branded  m  his 
forehead.     In  our  own  State,   fortunately   for  its  fame, 
these  degrading  punishments  did  not  exist,  and  but  four 
crimes  involved  the  death  penalty. 

From  the  boundar>^  of  New  England   southward,  the 


code  citiello  was  in  force,  and  Hamilton,  its  most  distin- 
guished victim,  although  in  the  last  writing  from  his  pen p 
he  placed  upon  record  one  of  the  strongest  arguments 
against  it,  fell  upon  the  heights  of  Weehawken,,  in  obedi- 
ence to  its  inexorable  law^  as  by  a  singular  infelicity  did 
his  young  son r  upon  the  same  ground,,  one  year  previous.. 

It  was  an  age  of  grave  and  even  stilted  manners-  This 
is  shown  by  all  contemporaneous  history,,  and  especially 
by  the  letters  of  the  period.  The  address  and  ending  of 
a  letter,  even  between  intimate  friends,,  in  those  days 
were  matters  of  serious  import.-  The  etiquette  of  the 
day,  was  precise  and  complicated,  and  during  Washing- 
ton's administration  was  a  frequent  cause  of  complaint. 
The  grave  manners  of  the  period  were  much  enhanced 
by  the  dress  then  worn.  Professor  McMaster,  in  his  ad- 
mirable history,  thus  describes  it: 

"A  gentleman  of  the  last  century,  if  he  were  a  man  of 
fashion  or  of  means,  wore  a  three-cornered  cocked  hat 
heavily  laced.  His  hair  was  done  up  in  a  cue,  and  its 
natural  shade  obscured  by  a  profusion  of  powder.  His 
coat  was  light  colored  with  diminutive  cape,  marvellously 
long  back  and  silver  buttons  engraved  with  the  letters  of 
his  name..  His  small  clothes  came  scarce  to  his  knees; 
his  stockings  were  striped;  his  shoes  pointed  and  adorned 
with  huge  buckles;  his  vest  had  flapped  pockets;  his  cuffs 
were  loaded  with  lead.  When  he  bowed  to  the  damsels 
that  passed  him,  he  took  half  of  the  sidewalk  as  he  flour- 
ished his  cane  and  Scraped  his  foot. 

Nor  does  the  dress  of  the  lady  as  she  gravely  returned 
his  salutation,  and  courtesied  almost  to  the  earth,  seem 
less  strange  to  us. 

These  were  the  days  of  gorgeous  brocades  and  taffetas, 
luxuriously  displayed  over  cumbrous  hoops  which  flat- 


19 

tened  before  and  behind,  stood  out  for  two  feel  on  each 
side;  of  tower  built  hats,  adorned  with  tall  feathers;  of 
•calash  and  nuisk-melon  bonnets;  of  high  wooden  heels 
fancifully  cut;  of  gowns  without  fronts,  of  fine  satin  pet- 
ticoats and  of  implanted  teeth, ' ' 

The  customs  of  1792  differed  widely  in  other  respects 
from  those  of  to-day.  Neither  the  civilization  or  the  re- 
ligion of  that  period,  had  evolved  the  modern  doctrine 
that  either  the  vending  or  the  use,  within  temperate 
limits,  of  intoxicating  liquors,  constituted  a  moral  crime. 
Brandy,  whiskey-,  rum  and  wines  were  sold  by  the  meas- 
ure at  eveiy  country  store  as  freely  as  molasses  or  sugar. 
The  decanter  stood  upon  ever>'  sideboard;  and  the  Pres- 
byterian minister  of  the  day  was  accustomed  to  take  his 
dram  with  his  entertainers  both  before  and  after  service. 

The  inn-keeper  was  one  of  the  principal  persons  of  the 
■community,  and  often  not  only  a  member,  but  an  officer 
of  the  church.  As  there  were  no  public  halls,  the  prin- 
cipal gatherings  of  every  rural  community  were  held  at 
the  village  inn;  and  these  were  the  chief  places  where 
the  revolutionary'  committees  in  each  locality  were  ac-  . 
customed  to  assemble. 

As  the  means  of  transportation  and  accommodation 
were  limited,  it  was  an  age  of  great  hospitality.  News- 
papers were  few  and  difficult  of  access,  and  strangers  and 
travellers  were  welcomed,  in  rural  neighborhoods,  as 
bringing  something  of  the  news  from  the  outside  world. 

The  journal  of  the  young  lady  above  referred  to  records, 
that  after  service  in  the  Court  House,  where  "Parson 
Grier"  preached,  "a  very  large  company"  sat  down  to 
tea  at  the  house  of  the  gentleman  where  she  was  visiting, 
and  the  wdiole  journal  shows  that  this  occasion  was  but 
a  sample  of  the  hospitality  of  the  times. 


20 

The  same  hospitable  customs  which  then  existed  here, 
although  they  have  generally  disappeared  in  the  North, 
still  remain  in  parts  of  Virginia,  and  perhaps  in  some  of 
the  other  Soutuern  States.  Taey  are  one  of  the  earmarks 
of  rural  and  sparsely  settled*  communities. 

In  1792,  imprisonment  for  debt  still  existed,  and  for 
the  debt  of  a  trifling  sum,  the  creditor,  by  execution, 
could  seize  the  body  of  his  debtor,  and  confine  him  in  the 
county  jail,  among  the  most  vicious  criminals. 

Public  hospitals  and  asylums  for  the  sick,  the  infirm, 
and  the  insane,  were  very  rare,  if  indeed  they  existed  at 
all,  and  the  evidence  is  abundant  that  ofttimes  the  treat- 
ment of  those  afflicted  persons  in  almshouses,  jails,  or  by 
those  to  whose  care  they  were  farmed  out,  was  ex- 
tremely neglectful  and  cruel. 

By  the  census  of  1790,  the  population  of  the  country 
was  ascertained  to  be  somewhat  less  than  four  million. 
These  were  scattered  along  and  near  the  Atlantic  sea- 
coast,  from  Maine  to  Georgia.  Kentucky  was  admitted 
to  the  Union  in  1792,  and  by  that  time  Pittsburg  was  a 
small  town.  Settlements  had  been  begun  in  the  fertile 
valleys  east  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  some  thousands  of 
people  were  in  motion  down  the  Ohio,  or  had  already  ar- 
rived at  the  new  settlements  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky. 
Save  the  settlements  indicated,  and  perhaps  a  few  small 
hamlets  at  different  points  on  the  Mississippi,  the  area  of 
the  United  States  in  1792  was  a  vast  wilderness,  inhab- 
ited only  by  various  tribes  of  nomadic  savages. 

Slavery  still  existed,  but  the  number  of  slaves  in  this 
community  was  small,  aud  in  our  State  this  system  of 
servitude  was  always  of  the  mildest  and  most  humane 
type. 

No  newspaper  was  regularly  published  in    Bridgeton 


21 

until  some  years  after  the  beginning  of  this  century. 

This  was  an  eminently  patriotic  community.  During 
the  Revolution,  at  least  two  full  companies  were  raised 
in  this  vicinity,  which  joined  the  Continental  Army. 
One  of  these,  commanded  by  Capt.  Richard  Howell,  was 
the  5th  Company  of  the  2nd  Battalion,  First  Establish- 
ment of  the  New  Jersey  Continental  troops.  The  other, 
commanded  by  Captain  Joseph  Bloomfield,  was  the  7th 
Company  of  the  3d  Battalion,  It  is  a  singular  fact  that 
each  of  these  officers,  after  the  Revolution,  became  Gov- 
ernors of  the  State.  At  several  times  during  the  w^ar, 
fully  one-half  of  the  militia  of  this  country  was  in  actual 
service. 

The  Organization  of  the  Congregation  and 
Erection  of  the  Church  Building. 

It  was  in  the  age  and  by  a  people  having  the  habits, 
customs,  traditions  and  sentiments  which  I  have  thus  en- 
deavored to  point  out,  that  the  congregation  which 
erected  this  building  was  organized.  The  majority  of  the 
Presbyterians  of  this  Count}^  were  the  descendants  of 
Presbyterians,  of  English  lineage,  who  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  1 8th  century  emigrated  from  Connecticut  and 
lyong  Island  to  this  county;  but  there  were  some  influ- 
ential families  of  that  indomitable  Scotch-Irish  race, 
w^hich  more  than  any  other  has  sustained  and  ad- 
vanced the  cause  of  Prcsbyterianism  in  the  United  States. 

The  New  England  Presbyterians  established  what  was 
called  the  "Cohansey  Church,"  of  Fairfield,  which  at 
first  independent,  as  were  the  churches  of  Connecticut, 
united  with  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  in  1708. 

There  is  no  record  of  any  actual  settlement  at  "Bridge 
Town' '  at  so  early  a  date  as  this.     Indeed  there  was  no 


a 


22 

recorded  surv^ey  of  the  lands  there  upon  the  east  side  of 
the  river  until  1716,  when  the  West  Jersey  Society  re- 
surveyed  and  recorded  its  eleven  thousand  acre  survey; 
and  it  was  not  until  1754  that  Alexander  Moore,  who 
had  acquired  title  to  parcel  of  these  lands,  had  the  plot 
of  a  town  surveyed.  The  survey  to  Ebenezer  Miller, 
which  covers  the  lands  upon  the  west  side  of  the  river 
from  Oak  street  on  the  north  to  a  considerable  distance 
south  of  Vine  street,  was  made  in  1749.  A  brick  Court 
House  was  built  in  1759  in  the  middle  of  what  is  now 
Broad  street,  opposite  where  the  Sheriff's  house  now 
stands.  The  hamlet  grew  so  slowly,  however,  that  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  there  were  probably  not 
more  than  150  inhabitants. 

Both  Greenwich  and  Cohansey  at  that  time  were 
places  of  much  more  importance  than  "Bridge  Town." 

In  1792,  the  population,  as  has  been  stated,  was  about 
300.  The  majority  of  the  inhabitants,  and  those  of  the 
most  influence,  were  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and 
the  chief  business  centres  were  at  the  corners  of  what  are 
now  Broad  and  Franklin,  and  Broad  and  Atlantic  streets. 

These  facts  fixed  the  location  of  this  church  upon  the 
west  side.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  erection  of  this  build- 
ing, the  Presbyterians  of  Bridge  Town  attended  church 
sometimes  at  Greenwich,  sometimes  at  Cohansey  or  Fair- 
field, and  at  intervals  held   services   in  the  Court  House. 

In  1770  an  unexecuted  will  of  Alexander  Moore  was 
discovered  on  file  in  the  Surrogate's  office  which  pur- 
ported to  bequeath  a  tract  of  land  situate  on  the  north 
side  of  Commerce  street  above  where  Pearl  street  now  is, 
for  the  sole  use  of  a  Presbyterian  Meeting  House,  and  a 
legacy  of  fifty  pounds  towards  the  construction  of  a  build- 
ing.  In  1774  an  effort  was  made  to  raise  by  subscription 


23 

sufficient  funds  for  this  purpose,  but  the  mutterings  of 
and  the  out-break  of  the  Revolutionary  War  ended  this 
project.  The  question  of  the  erection  of  a  Presbj'terian 
Church  was  again  agitated  in  1788,  and  in  1789  several 
public  meetings  were  held,  at  which  the  subject  was  dis- 
cussed. Jonathan  Elmer  offered  as  a  location  for  a  build- 
ing a  tract  of  land  somewhere  near  the  point,  now  the 
southwest  corner  of  Oak  and  Franklin  streets.  John 
Fithian,  M.  D.,  offered  a  lot  at  the  south-east  corner  of 
Broad  and  Giles  streets. 

These  locations  were  much  opposed  bj-  the  residents 
upon  the  east  side  of  the  river. 

Subscriptions,  however,  were  set  on  foot,  and  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  manage  the  business,  and  agree 
upon  a  site.  This  attempt,  however,  was  unsuccessful. 
The  names  of  this  committee  are  not  known. 

At  length,  in  1791,  through  the  influence  of  Dr.  Jona- 
than Elmer,  Col.  David  Potter  and  General  James  Giles, 
Mark  Miller,  the  son  and  heir  of  Ebenezer  Miller,  who 
was  a  Friend,  agreed,  in  consideration  of  a  promise  made 
by  his  father,  to  give  the  lot  upon  which  this  building 
stands,  "To  be  used,  occupied,  and  enjoyed  by  the  in- 
habitants of  Bridgetown  forever,  for  the  purposes  of  a 
burying  ground  for  all  said  inhabitants  generally,  and 
for  erection  thereon  a  house  for  the  pul)lic  worship  of 
Ahnighty  God." 

This  lot  contained  about  two  acres,  and  comprises  the 
north  eastern  portion  of  the  present  cemetery. 

Upon  receiving  the  promise  of  Mark  Miller  as  above 
stated,  Jonathan  Elmer  and  David  Potter  called  a  general 
meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  which  convened 
in  May,  1791,  when  the  site  above  mentioned  was  fixed 
upon,  and  Jonathan   Elmer  and  EH  Elmer  were  unani- 


24 

niotisly  chosen  to  take  a  deed  for  the  same  in  trust  for 
the  uses  above  mentioned.  Afterwards  it  was  thought 
proper  to  add  David  Potter  and  James  Giles  to  the  num- 
ber of  trustees. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  here,  that  of  these  trustees,  Jona- 
than Elmer  had  been  a  member  of  the  Revolutionary 
Congress  and  of  that  of  the  Confederation,  and  was  up  to 
March  3,  1791,  Senator  of  the  United  States;  and  David 
Potter,  James  Giles  and  Eli  Elmer  were  soldiers  of  the 
Revolution. 

In  conformity  with  his  promise,  Mark  Miller  conveyed 
the  land  above  mentioned,  January  11,  1752,  and  other 
conveyances  have  been  made  from  time  to  time,  so  that 
the  title  to  the  area  of  the  cemetery,  as  shown  of  record, 
is  as  follows; 

The  details  of  the  title  are  here  omitted.  About  ten 
acres  of  ground  are  now  comprised  within  the  limits  of 
the  cemetery. 

As  soon  as  the  "Donation  Ground"  was  secured,  sub- 
scriptions were  opened  for  the  purpose  of  building  a 
church  upon  it,  and  about  ^600,  (or  $1,600)  were  sub- 
scribed, materials  were  purchased,  and  the  contracts 
made.     The  work  was  begun  in  the  spring  of  1792. 

July  26,  1792,  "the  foundation  stone  was  laid  by  a 
number  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  town,  with  the  usual 
ceremonies, ' ' 

There  is  no  other  evidence  of  what  occurred  upon  this 
occasion  than  this  brief  record. 

September  27,  1792,  the  roof  was  raised,  and  in  De- 
cember of  the  same  year,  the  roof  was  enclosed  and  all 
the  subscription  money  was  expended. 

The  rCvSources  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  applicable 
to  the  purpose  having  been  thus   exhausted,  it   became 


25 

necessar}^  to  devise  ;;oirie  new  method  for  raising  money 
suffi:ie:it  to  complete  the  building.  At  tliatp^rio:!,  the 
use  of  lotteries  in  aid  of  public  charitable  and  religious 
purposes  was  quite  common,  both  in  England  and  in  the 
United  States,  and  the  minds  of  those  having  the  busi- 
ness ill  charge,  readily  turned  to  this  method  of  relief. 
Ebenezer  Elmer,  M.  D.,  afterwards  known  as  General 
Elmer,  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  in  1793,  and  it  was 
doubtless  through  his  influence  that  an  act  of  the  Assem- 
bly was  passed  as  follows: 

"An  act  to  authorize  the  subscribers  to  the  building  a 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Bridge  Town. in  the  Count}'  of 
Cumberland,  and  to  authorize  the  Subscribers  to  the 
Building  a  Presbyterian  Church  at  Middletown  Point,  in 
the  County  of  Monmouth,  to  erect  Eotteries  for  the  Pur- 
poses therein  mentioned. 

Sec  I.  BE  IT  ENACTED  by  the  Council  and  General  Assem- 
bly of  this  State,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the 
same,  That  the  subscribers  to  the  building  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Bridgetown,  in  the  Count}'  of  Cumberland,  be  and  they 
hereby  are  authorized  and  empowered  to  raise  by  way  of  lottery  a 
sum  not  exceeding  two  thousand  dollars;  and  the  Subscribers  to 
the  Building  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Middletown  Point,  in 
the  County  of  Monmouth,  any  sum  not  exceeding  Fifteen  Hun- 
dred dollars,  to  be  appropriated  by  them  towards  building  and 
completing  the  said  Churches. 

2.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  Subscribers  to  the  build- 
ing of  each  of  said  Churches  shall  choose  by  a  Majority  of  Voices, 
three  managers  of  said  Lotteries,  who  shall  be  on  oaih  for  the 
faithful  Discharge  of  their  dut}-;  which  oath  any  of  the  Judges  or 
Justices  of  the  Peace,  in  and' for  said  counties  of  Cumberland  and 
IMonmouth,  are  hereby  authorized  to  administer;  and  in  case  of  the 
Death,  Removal,  or  other  Disability  of  any  or  either  of  the  Mana- 
gers so  to  be  appointed,  others  shall  and  may,  in  like  manner,  be 
chosen  to  supply  the  place  or  places  of  him  or  them  so  disabled. 

Passed  at  Trenton,  May  22,  1793. 

Neal  &  Lawrence's  Laws,  p.  835. 


26 

It  is  a  noteworth}^  fact,  that  within  less  than  five  j^ears 
afterwards,  by  the  act  entitled:  "An  act  for  Suppressing 
of  lyotteries,"  passed  February  13,  1797,  Patterson's 
Laws  227,  all  lotteries  are  declared  to  be  common  public 
nuisances,  and  the  setting  up,  opening  or  drawing  lot- 
teries was  among  other  things,  made  punishable  by  a 
penalty  of  $2,000. 

The  lottery  was  drawn  in  1794.  Upon  what  scheme 
it  was  drawn,  or  who  all  the  managers  who  conducted  it 
were,  is  not  now  known.  The  sale  of  the  tickets  was 
quite  a  task.  They  were  widely  distributed  throughout 
the  country. 

In  a  letter  written  b}^  Col.  David  Potter  to  his  brother- 
in-law  James  Ewing,  of  Trenton,  under  date  of  October 
17,  1793,  he  states,  among  other  things: 

"I  now  take  the  liberty  of  enclosing  fifty-six  (tickets)  from  No. 
241  to  296,  including  both,  which  I  hope  you  may  be  able  to  dis- 
pose of. 

"Dr.  Ebenezer  Elmer  has  fifty  also,  which  I  hope  that  he  can 
sell  to  the  good  men  that  parsed  the  law  for  us.  I  fear  that  we 
shall  not  be  able  to  draw  quite  as  soon  as  mentioned  in  the  scheme, 
but  thf"  greate''  part  are  disposed  of,  and  the  managers  told  me 
3'esterday  that  they  only  waited  to  hear  from  South  Carolina  of 
the  success  of  those  that  were  sent  thereto  Mr.  H  jUinshead,  Ram- 
say and  others,  which  they  made  no  doubt  are  disposed  of." 

A  copy  of  a  letter  in  the  possession  of  a  gentleman  in 
this  city  shows  that  several  tickets  had  drawn  prizes  of 
$5.00.  It  states,  one  man  had  drawn  five  five  dollar 
prizes,  which  were  remitted  to  him,  "less  15  per  cent  re- 
duction." The  minittes  of  the  trustees  of  the  Church, 
tinder  date  of  January  12,  1795,  give  the  only  informa- 
tion upon  this  subject,  as  follows: 

"Settled  the  accounts  of  the  managers  of  the  lottery  for  the 
Church,  and  on  a  final  statement  of  their  accounts,  and  of  all 
monies  paid  by  them  in  building  the  church,  there  appears  a  bal- 
ance due  to  Jonathan  Elmer,  one  of  the  managers,  of  14  dollars  20 
cents. 


27 

The  desired  amount  of  money  having  been  thus  secured, 
the  work  upon  the  building  was  resumed,  and  continued 
until  May  17,  1795,  when  it  was  so  far  finished  as  to  be 
fit  to  occup3\ 

Sundaj^  May  1795,  the  church  was  "Solemnly  dedi- 
cated for  the  public  worship  of  Almighty  God, ' '  by  the 
Rev.  John  Davenport,    then  pastor  of  Deerfield  Church. 

Sunda}',  Dec.  13th,  1795,  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  administered  in  this  church  for  the  first  time, 
b)'  the  Rev.  William  Clarkson. 

While  the  new  church  was  in  process  of  erection, 
divine  services  appear  to  have  been  held  regularly  in  the 
Court  House. 

The  Presbyter>^  of  Philadelphia, convened  at  Bridgetown 
for  the  first  time,  April  16,  1793,  and  Jonathan  Elmer 
was  appointed  to  attend  it,  on  behalf  of  the  Bridgetown 
congregation.  Previous  to  this  time,  however,  there 
were  grave  doubts  in  the  minds  of  those  interested  as  to 
whether  the  number  and  the  means  of  the  residents  of 
the  town  would  enable  them  to  maintain  a  house  of  wor- 
ship. This  feeling  of  doubt  prevailed  for  some  time  and 
an  effort  was  made  to  unite  with  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Grssnwich.  April  30,  1792,  a  general  meeting  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Bridgetown  and  its  immediate  vicinity  was 
held  and  a  plan  proposed  for  a  union  with  the  Greenwich 
Church.  A  committee  was  appointed  for  this  purpose, 
but  the  plan  was  not  approved  by  the  Greenwich  congre- 
gation, and  was  therefore  abandoned. 

It  was  then  deemed  advisable  to  commence  the  regular 
organization  of  a  separate  church  and  congregation,  bj' 
applying  to  the  Presbyter>-  of  Philadelphia  for  recognition. 

Several  meetings  were  had  for  the  purpose  of  delibera" 
tion  upon  this  subject,    and    October    14,    1792,    it   was 


28 

agreed  that  such  appHcation  should  be  made  to  the  Pres- 
bytery at  its  next  session.  Jonathan  Elmer  was  ap- 
pointed to  attend  the  meeting  of  Presbytery  with  an  ap- 
plication as  follows: 

To  the  Rev'd  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia: 

(Gentlemen: — The  inhabitants  of  Bridge  Town  and  its  vicinity 
have  hitherto  experienced  great  inconvenience  in  having  no  House 
for  worship  in  or  near  the  Town. 

It  is  a  County  Town  central  in  its  situation,  and  contains  near 
300  inhabitants  who  are  rapidly  increasing  in  number.  After  re- 
peated efforts  we  have  now  a  fair  prospect  of  succeeding  in  building 
a  church  in  the  town.  It  is  alreadj'  nearly  enclosed,  and  will 
probably  be  completed  the  ensuing  season. 

Our  nest  object  is  to  prepare  for  the  stated  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel in  it.  Having  a  predilection  for  the  Doctrine  and  Discipline 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America,  we  wish  to  become  an  ac. 
knowledged  member  of  that  Church;  We  have  therefore  deemed 
it  the  most  orderly  mode  oi  procedure  to  make  known  our  partic- 
ular case  and  circumstances  to  the  Rev'd  Presbytery  within  whose 
bounds  we  are  situated,  and  to  solicit  their  approbation  and  assist- 
ance in  the  measure.  We  have  appointed  the  bearer  hereof,  Jona- 
than Klmer,  Esquire,  our  Commissioner  for  that  purpose.  He  will 
lay  before  you  the  application  agreed  upon  by  us,  and  wait  for  the 
result  of  your  determination  upon  the  subject 

We  are,  Rev'd  Gentleman, 

Yours,  &c., 
Signed  by  order  and  in  behalf  of  the  meeting, 

D.wiD  Potter.  Chairman, 
Bridge  Town,  Cumberland  County, 
State  of  New  Jersey.  October,  the 
13th,  1792." 

The  original  of  this  letter  is  in  the  possession  of  the 
venerable  Rev.  John  Hall,  D.  D,,  of  Trenton, 

Doctor  Elmer  attended  the  meeting  of  Presbytery  and 
accomplished  the  object  of  his  mission. 

October  17,  1792,  the  Presbytery  adopted  a  minute  as 
follows: 


"Throuj^h  Jonathan  Elmer,  Esquire,  Ihe'r  Commissioner,  appli- 
cation was  niatle  by  the  inhabitants  of  Rrids^etown  and  its  vicinity, 
in  the  Connty  of  Cnmberland,  and  in  the  Stale  of  New  Jersey,  to 
be  erected  into  a  distinct  congregation.  After  mature  deliberation 
upon  the  subject.  Presbytery  unanimously  agrees  to  grant  the 
prayer  of  said  application,  and  do  hereby  constitute  and  form  the 
above  mentioned  inhabitants  into  a  Distinct  Congregation  by  the 
name  of  the  Congregation  of  Bridge  Town. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  congregation,  Aiigtist  25,  1794,  it 
was  unanimously  agreed  to  prosecute  a  call  "as  soon  as 
may  be  for  Dr.  William  Clarkson."  It  was  further 
agreed  that  a  salary-  of /'175  ($365.50)  be  given  him  be- 
tween the  two  congregations  of  Bridge  Town  and  Green- 
wich. It  was  ftirther  agreed  that  the  congregation  of 
Bridge  Town  give  a  separate  call  to  Dr.  Clarkson  for 
half  of  his  time,  and  to  pay  him  half  the  salary'  above 
mentioned,  ^87,  los  od  ($182.75),  ai:d  that  he  supply 
the  two  churches  by  preaching  one  sermon  every  Sab- 
bath in  each  of  them,  through  the  3'ear  if  agreeable  to 
him,  and  approved  of  by  the  Greenwich  Congregation, 

At  this  meeting  also,  Jonathan  Elmer,  David  Potter 
and  Ephraim  Seeley  were  appointed  as  a  coiumittee  to 
meet  a  committee  of  the  Greenwich  Church  to  converse 
upon  the  subject  of  calling  and  settling  Dr.  Clarkson  in 
the  two  congregations. 

A  call  was  soon  after  accordingly  prepared  b}'  this  con- 
gregation for  one-half  of  Mr.  Clarkson's  time;  and  b}"  the 
Greenwich  congregation  for  one-half. 

Both  calls  were  presented  to  him  at  the  Presbyter}^  in 
Philadelphia,  and  were  by  him  accepted  October  20th, 
1794. 

November  14,  1794,  he  was  ordained  in  the  Greenwich 
Church,  as  pastor  of  the  two  congregations.  The  Rev. 
Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  D.  D.,  President  of  Princeton 
College,  preached  the  sermon  upon  this  occasion.  , 


30 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clarkson's  title 
of  Doctor,  was  that  of  medicine,  not  of  divinity.  He  was 
a  very  skillful  physician,  and  at  one  time  possessed  a 
lucrative  practice  in  the  city  of  New  York,  which  he 
abandoned  to  enter  the  ministry.  He  appears  to  have 
served  the  two  congregations  faithfully  and  acceptably 
for  several  years,  but  the  congregations  of  both  churches 
were  small  and  the  combined  salaries  meagre.  His 
financial  affairs  indeed  became  so  straightened  that  he 
was  obliged  to  resort  to  the  practice  of  medicine  in  order 
to  eke  out  a  living;  but  encountering  professional  opposi- 
tion from  an  unexpected  source,  he  resigned  his  pastor- 
ate and  removed  to  Savannah,  Georgia,  and  from  there 
to  John's  Island,  South  Carolina.  At  each  of  these 
places  he  was  pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  Church.  He  died 
in  1812.  He  was  described  as  a  "popular  and  excellent 
preacher,  who  read  his  carefully  prepared  sermons.  His 
articulation  was  clear  and  distinct,  and  his  voice  pleasing. 
He  was  of  medium  height  and  of  fine  presence."  One 
of  his  daughters  married  the  late  John  Crosby,  Esq.,  of 
New  York  City,  the  father  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Howard 
Crosby. 

Mr.  Clarkson  informed  the  congregation  at  a  meeting 
held  Sept.  29,  1801,  of  his  intention  to  resign  his  pas- 
toral charge  of  the  congregations  of  Bridge  Town  and 
Greenwich  ;  and  this  intention  appears  to  have  been  car- 
ried out  at  the  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
October  20,  1801. 

January  7,  1795,  David  Potter  was  appointed  Treas- 
urer of  the  Congregation,  and  he  and  Eli  Ehner  were 
appointed  collectors  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and 
John  Moore  White  and  Jeremiah  Buck  were  appointed 
collectors  upon  the  east  side. 


Dollars 

lo  each 

$20 

S  each 

8o 

7  each 

84 

6  each 

66 

5  each 

10 

Total, 

I260 

31 

May  19,  1795,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  number 
and  rate  the  pews  of  the  Church,  which  duty  being  per- 
formed and  reported,  the  plan  was  unanimously  agreed 
to  and  was  as  follows: 

The  pews  were  numbered  from  the  pulpit  towards  the 
south  end  of  the  church;  first  on  each  side,  and  then  in 
the  centre,  progressively  from  No.  i  to  No.  38  inclusive, 
then  rated  as  follows: 

Nos.  2  &  1 1  rated  at 
Nos   3,  4,  5,  9,  10,  12,  13,  14,  18  &  20  at 
Nos.  6,  7,  15,  16,  21,  22,  23,  24,  30  31,  32,  33  at 
Nos.  I.  3,  17,  25,  26,  27,  28,  34,  35,  36,  37  at 
Nos.  29  &  38  at 

Parson's  Pew  No.  20,  not  rated. 

The  number  of  the  "Parson's  Pew"  stated  as  20, 
should  obviously  be  19  as  all  the  other  numbers  are  duly 
rated.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  total  revenue  of  the 
church  from  the  pew  rents  is  but  $77.25  in  excess  of  the 
pastor's  salary. 

Although  the  church  was  opened  for  public  worship 
May  17,  1795,  the  plastering  appears  not  to  have  been 
completed  until  1798;  it  was  not,  in  fact,  ordered  to  be 
done  until  Jul}'  31st  of  that  year.  On  Saturday  next  tol- 
lowing  the  meeting  of  Ma}-  19,  1795,  tbe  pews  were  sold 
at  public  auction.  The  money  which  thus  accrued  was 
appropriated  toward  furnishing  the  church  and  was  paid 
over  to  E'i  Elmer  for  that  purpose.  It  appears  from  this 
fact  and  also  from  the  fact  that  sub.scriptions  for  the  pur- 
pose of  plastering  the  building  were  ordered  to  be  taken, 
that  the  mone}'  raised  by  lottery  was  not  sufficient  to  en- 
tirely complete  and  furnish  it. 

Tne  exact  total  cost  in  the  premises  cannot  now  be  as- 
certained. 


32 

The  first  sexton  was  Stephen  Miller,  a  Revolutionary 
soldier.  The  first  Secretary-  of  Church  and  congregation 
was  Jonathan  Elmer.  In  the  earlier  histor^^  of  this 
Church  a  "standing  committee"  supplied  the  place  of  the 
officers  now  known  as  trustees.  Jonathan  Elmer, 
Ephraim  Seeley,  John  Moore  White  and  Zachariah  Law- 
rence composed  the  first  "Standing  Committee."  Rul- 
ing Elders  were  not  elected  until  1796,  when  Nathaniel 
Harris,  Zachariah  Lawrence  and  John  Lupton  were 
chosen  to  that  high  office.  The  number  of  the  first  com- 
municants w^as  35. 

The  congregation  appears  not  to  have  been  incorporated 
until  December  4,  1802,  when  Jeremiah  Buck,  John 
Moore  White,  David  Bowen,  Samuel  Moore  Shute  and 
Stephen  Miller,  having  been  duly  elected  trustees  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Congregation  on  November  19th,  1S02, 
duly  executed  and  filed  a  certificate  of  incorporation,  in 
accordance  with  the  statute  of  this  State,  in  the  corpor- 
ate name  of  '  'The  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  Congre. 
gation  of  Bridgeton. ' ' 

When  this  building  was  erected,  the  public,  or,  as  it 
was  called  by  the  old  people,  the  King's  Highway,  to 
Greenwich,  ran  through  the  middle  of  the  lot,  a  little  south 
of  the  Church.  This  fact  probably  w^as  the  reason  why 
the  church  building  faced  the  south.  The  road  to  Roads- 
town  ran  through  that  portion  of  what  is  now  the  ceme- 
tery to  the  north-west  of  the  building.  The  Church 
therefore  stood  as  it  were,  upon  an  island  between  the 
two  roads.  Broad  street  was  afterwards  altered  by  ex- 
tending it  from  Lawrence  street  up  to  Fourth  street,  as 
West  avenue  was  then  called.  The  old  King's  High- 
way was  altered,  so  that  it  ran  to  the  north-west  of  the 
building,  and  a  fence  was  put  around  the  church  property 


in  1802.  Subsequently  the  roads  running  to  the  north- 
west of  the  church,  within  the  limits  of  the  present  cem- 
etery were  abandoned,  and  the  adjacent  streets  and  higli- 
ways  took  shape  as  they  now  are. 

Vine  street  was  first  opened  in  1796,  and  was  then 
called  Back  street,  Lawrence  and  Giles  streets  were  not 
opened  in  1792.  Broad  street  was  originallj-  called  Main 
street,  and  afterwards  Market  street,  from  the  fact  that  a 
brick  market  house  was  erected  near  the  Court  House, 
It  was  named  Broad  street  in  1838  by  a  committee  ap- 
pointed to  name  the  streets  of  the  town.  Of  this  com- 
mittee the  venerable  Samuel  Ward  Seeley,  now  in  his 
92d  year,  is  the  sole  survivor. 

When  what  is  now  lyawrence  street  was  opened,  a  strip 
off  the  ea.stern  end  was  given  up  to  form  a  four  rod  road, 
isO  that  the  fence  now  stands  on  the  first  row  of  graves, 
and  is  always  taken  as  the  first  row  by  the  sexton  in  his 
calculations.  The  bricks  of  the  building  are  home-made , 
and  were  wrought  near  the  Simpkins  house,  to  the  west- 
ward of  the  Church.  They  were  burned  a  short  distance 
south  of  the  building. 

M}^  pleasant,  if  laborious  dut}-,  is  now  done.  I  have 
endeavored  to  state  all  important  facts  accessible,  touch- 
ing the  organization  of  this  congregation  and  the  erection 
of  this  building;  and  have  been  careful  to  state  no  facts 
which  have  not  been  duly  verified. 

I  have  endeavored  faithfull}'  to  delineate  the  modes  of 
thought,  the  habits,  and  the  customs  of  our  forefathers. 

I  have  pointed  out  how  a  small,  remote  and  rural  com- 
munity, yet  having  within  its  limits  some  men  of  ability- 
and  experience,  which  had  just  emerged  from  a  tremen- 
dous war,  that  strained  all  its  resources,  nevertheless, hav- 
ing aided  in  forming  a  new  Government,   went  steadily 


34 
forward  to  raise  this  Christian  temple  in  which  to  wor- 
ship God  in  the  faith  which  it  had  inherited. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  faults  and  short-comings 
of  our  forefathers,  they  were  those  of  their  age  and  times; 
their  virtues  were  their  own. 

They  freely  shed  their  blood  for  religious  as  well  as 
civil  liberty.  They  founded  '  'A  church  without  a  Bishop, 
a  State  without  a  King;"  and  they  transmitted  to  their 
descendants  that  springing  courage,  that  inflexible  reso- 
lution, which,  when  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  centur}"- 
had  elapsed,  and  these  liberties  were  assailed,  led  them 
upon  a  thousand  battle-fields,  with  unfaltering  devotion, 
to  uphold  our  sinking  flag  and  cause. 

The  church  building  which  these  men  erected,  stands 
before  3-ou. 

It  is  a  plain  structure,  consonant  with  the  thoughts 
and  habits  of  those  who  reared  it.  The  cost  of  its  con- 
struction was  freely  paid  by  free  men. 

No  loft}^  spire  crowns  its  summit.  No  chime  of  bells 
wrenched  by  church  authority  from  toiling  hands,  have 
from  this  spot  called  to  early  mass,  or  in  the  gloaming, 
tolled  forth  the  Angel  us  above  these  blooming  fields,  and 
this  fair  and  busy  town.  No  surpliced  priest,  owing 
prime  allegiance  to  a  foreign  chief,  and  mumbling  lyatin 
prayers,  no  high  altar,  no  elevated  Host,  no  swinging 
censers,  no  perfumed  incense,  have  ever  invaded  these 
sacred  walls. 

But  for  a  hundred  years,  the  light  which  was  here 
kindled,  has  never  been  extinguished.  For  a  hundred 
years  the  congregation  which  was  here  organized,  in  this 
building  and  the  one  which  succeeded  it,  have  followed 
the  pure  and  simple  faith  of  their  Fathers. 

The  seed  which  was  sown  here  in  weakness  has  been 


35 
raissi  in  povvsr;  and  from  the  time  when  this  corner 
stone  was  laid,  until  this  day,  this  Church  and  congrega- 
tion have  been  a  constant,  increasing,  living  force  for 
good,  not  in  this  vicinity  only,  but  in  all  this  section  of 
the  State. 

May   it  and  that  great   Government  whose  flag    and 
power  protects  it,  so  remain  while  time  shall  last: 

Until  that  fateful,  mighty  day, 

When  earthly  shadows,  doubts,  despair, 

Shall  like  the  morning's  mist  be  swept  away 

By  the  sweet  zephyrs  of  the  heavenly  air; 

When  clothed  in  radiant  white,  his  trump  in  hand. 

Whose  golden  tones  shall  sound  o'er  land  and  sea. 

The  Messenger  of  God  by  the  great  throne  shall  stand; 

Earth's  night  forever  lost  in  Heaven's  eternity. 


Note — In  my  account  of  the  manners  and  customs  of 
the  people  prior  to  1792,  I  have  drawn  freely  upon  the 
admirable  history  of  Professor  McMaster.  I  am  also 
greatly  indebted  to  Mr.  Robert  B.  Potter,  for  much  im- 
portant data;  and  to  Charles  E.  Sheppard,  Esq.,  and 
Mr.  George  Hampton,  for  aid  in  tracing  the  titles  to  the 
several  parcels  of  land  which  make  up  the  area  of  the 
church  premises. 


36 

Historical  SIcetehi  l>y  Rev.  Henry  Reeves,  T^ln. 

D. — A.  Brief  Report  made  for  Puljlication 

at  tlie  Time. 

Tiis  cereixiDn}'  of  dedication  in  Miy  1795,  was  over, 
and  the  little  company  that  with  snch  bright  hopes  had 
gathered  to  witness  it,  had  retired  to  their  homes,  thank- 
ful that  tlisy  had  carried  up  the  walls,  enclosed  the  build- 
ing-, and  mils  the  place  tolerably  fit  for  worship.  But 
there  was  much  more  to  be  done. 

The  names  of  the  people  at  this  time  indicate  the  close 
connection  between  Bridge  Town  and  Greenwich.  "God 
made  the  country;  man  the  town,"  wrote  Cowper;  but 
let  me  vary  this  saying  a  little  for  American  pur- 
poses. God  made  the  country,  and  the  country  made 
the  town,  at  least  Bridge  Town  was  so  made.  Our  mak- 
ing up  was  from  Deerfield,  Pittsgrove,  Fairfield,  and  last 
but  not  least,  from  Greenwich. 

To  Mr.  Freeman  we  owe  the  preservation  of  not  a  few 
of  these  facts  concerning  the  first  years  of  the  church,  as 
given  in  the  delightful  address  to  which  you  have  just 
listened.  Others  before  Mr.  Freeman,  were  either  care- 
less or  unfortunate;  he  was  full  and  accurate,  and  antici- 
pating future  needs  gave  a  brief  sketch  of  the  history  of 
the  church  before  his  time,  in  the  first  pages  of  the 
session  book. 

The  new  church  did  good  work.  Bills  were  paid,  the 
churchyard  had  been  enlarged  and  enclosed,  the  church 
had  been  plastered  within.  The  expense  of  the  plaster- 
ing was  $680. 

This  plastering  includes  the  quaint  ornaments  back  ot 
the  pulpit,  some  of  which  remain,  the  wreaths,  two  heads 
of  unknown  worthies,  and  the  eye  in  the  ceiling  above, 
perhaps  to  remind  one  of  Omniscience.     The  whole  effect 


3/ 
of  the  finish  was  solemn  and  beautiful.  A  high  pulpit, 
reached  by  a  long,  winding  stairway,  seemed  to  youthful 
attendants,  of  whom  the  speaker  was  one,  to  be  suited 
to  an  exalted  being,  such  as  ministers  were  thought  to 
be  by  the  younger  people. 

After  the  church  was  built,  a  number  of  lyombardy 
poplars  were  planted  around  it.  There  is  a  steeple  frame 
beneath  the  roof  at  the  north  or  pulpit  end,  but  it  was 
thought  too  weak  to  support  a  bell. 

In  April  1802,  the  Bridgeton  church  had  upon  its  roll, 
50  communicants;  in  1803,  63. 

After  Mr.  Clarksonwent  awaj^  the  pulpit  was  vacant 
four  years  until  Rev.  Jonathan  Freeman  came.  He  was 
joint  pastor  of  Greenwich  and  Bridgeton.  His  salary  was 
$666,66.  After  living  in  a  parsonage  between  the  two 
places  he  removed  to  Bridgeton.  Morning  and  evening 
on  Sundaj'  he  preached  here;  and  with  his  good  horse 
"Highlander,"  he  drove  to  Greenwich  to  preach  in  the 
afternoon. 

During  his  pastorate  he  received  138  members  on  ex- 
amination, and  II  by  certificate,  solemnized  197  marri- 
ages and  baptized  234  children. 

These  were  the  j^ears  when  the  great  religious  Societies 
of  the  country  were  formed:  the  American  Bible  Society, 
The  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  The  American 
Tract  Society  and  others,  and  under  Mr.  Freeman's  in- 
fluence aided  by  Gen.  Ebenezer  Elmer,  this  church  came 
into  line  with  the  effort  to  support  them. 

The  "Cent  Society"  was  also  described  by  the  speaker, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  raise  money  to  assist  poor 
students  in  training  for  the  ministry.  There  were  80 
female  subscribers  who  gave  a  cent  weekh'. 

At  this  time,  in  18 16,  the  inhabitants  numbered  only 


38 

r6oo.  It  was  a  village  made  up  of  about  240  houses, 
with  plenty  of  fields  enclosed  by  post  and  rail  fences. 
Only  a  dozen  buildings  stood  on  the  south  side  of  Com- 
merce street  batwsen  the  bridge  and  Elmer's  grist  mill. 

Mr.  Freeman,  after  he  came  to  live  in  Bridgeton, 
preached  in  the  Court  House  Wednesday  evenings.  In 
the  winter  of  1818  was  carried  out  a  novel  scheme,  as 
it  then  appeared,  the  establishment  of  the  Monthly  Con- 
cert of  Prayer  for  Missions,  which  was  becoming  general 
throughout  the  country,  and  in  connection  with  it  the 
placing  of  a  missionary  box  near  the  door. 

Mr.  Freeman  died  of  bilious  fever,    Nov.  17th,    1822, 
in  the  58th   year  of  his   age.     He   was  buried   in    this 
churchyard,    and     over  his    remains   the    congregation 
placed  a  monument  where  you  will  read  an  inscription. 

In  1816  was  organized  the  "Young  Female  Religious 
Tract  Society  of  Bridgetown,"  the  design  of  which  was 
to  circulate  religious  tracts  gratuitously."  Elizabeth 
Elmer  was  the  President,  Amelia  Freeman,  Treasurer, 
Nancy  B.  Giles,  Secretary. 

Then  followed  a  personal  description  of  Mr.  Freeman. 
His  appearance  was  represented  as  such  that  half  the 
people  who  saw  him  for  the  first  time  on  the  street,  would, 
on  meeting  him,  turn  around  for  a  second  look,  their 
thought  being,  "there  goes  an  able  man." 

That  he  was  a  man  of  feeling  no  one  doubted;  he  was 
a  champion  of  orthodoxy  and  preached  strong  discourses, 
feeding  his  people  with  what  they  called  "strong  meat;" 
yet  other  sermons  or  parts  of  sermons,  carried  with  them 
much  tenderness  and  earnestness  of  appeal.  He  was  es- 
pecially gifted  in  prayer,  bearing  the  hearts  of  the  peo- 
ple along  in  the  full  tide  of  supplication.  Rare  indeed 
this  faculty  must  be  regarded,  for  if  Dr.  Guthrie  is  right 


39 

Avhen  he  says,  "It  is  harder  work  to  pray  than  to  preach, 
and  for  one  who  can  pray  well,  I  can  get  you  a  hundred 
who  can  preach  well  a  whole  hour,"  it  must  be  admitted 
that  this  good  pastor  was  an  exception  to  the  common  lot. 

A  new  roof  was  put  upon  the  church  in  1823. 

Joint  efforts  were  made  by  the  two  congregations  to 
settle  a  pastor,  but  they  disagreed  as  to  the  place  of  his 
residence.  The  Bridgeton  committee  of  conference  in- 
sisted on  Bridgeton  as  the  place.  Greenwich  assented 
onl}-  on  the  condition  that  it  should  pa}'  less  than  one- 
half  the  salary.  Rev.  Mr.  Biggs,  who  had  been  jointly 
called,  declined  the  call. 

To  Greenwich,  the  mother  church,  I  would  here,  were 
there  time,  pay  a  more  extended  tribute  of  appreciation, 
in  view  of  the  hitherto  close  connection  of  the  churches, 
and  some  5aelding  of  preferences  on  the  part  of  Green- 
wich. To  them  this  separation  was  at  first  a  trying 
event.  Rev.  Brogan  Hoff  was  now  called  to  Bridgeton 
for  his  whole  time;  but  to  the  situation  alone  were  the 
demands  and  the  final  step  due.  The  increase  here  was 
manifest,  and  the  requirements  of  the  congregation  could 
not  be  met  by  its  members  without  the  settlement  of  a 
minister  for  his  whole  time.  Greenwich  had  helped 
Bridgeton  in  the  division  of  the  preaching  appointments 
and  in  the  question  of  the  pastoral  residence. 

Dr.  Fithian  considers  that  it  had  done  so  to  its  own 
disadvantage.  To-da}-  in  the  spirit  of  loyalty  and  grati- 
tude we  acknowledge  the  debt;  the  child  that  had  then 
grown  and  felt  its  vital  needs  is  the  same  that  now,  with 
the  tenderness  of  old  memories,  sends  to  the  mother  its 
affectionate  salutations  and  breathes  for  her  a  united,  a 
manifold  prayer  for  life  prolonged,  and  prosperity  ever 
increasing. 


40 

I:i  1824  Rsv.  Brogan  Hoffwas  called  by  the  Bridge- 
t  )u  congregation,  acting  indepandenty,  at  a  salary  of 
$650. 

The  Session  House  was  built  1826-7. 

Mr.  Hoif's  ministry  was  successful  in  securing  addi- 
tions to  the  church.  He  served  nine  years  as  pastor,  and 
at  the  age  of  61  years  resigned,  and  went  first  to  Penn- 
sylvania and  then  to  New  York,  where  he  died  at  the 
age  of  75. 

The  speaker  gave  a  description  of  this  minister,  and 
entered  briefly  upon  Rev.  John  Kennedy's  pastorate, 
1834-1838.  He  was  Scotch-Irish,  a  man  of  many  good 
qualities,  and  a  sound  preacher,  though  lacking  in  some 
elements  of  popularity. 

The  speaker  closed  with  an  account  of  the  building  of 
the  church  on  North  lyaurel  street,  in  Mr.  Kennedy's 
time,  and  ended  with  a  reference  to  the  good  work  of 
both  churches,  the  old  and  the  new,  as  bright  lights  in 
the  constellation  of  Bridgeton's  churches,  both  historic, 
and  testifying  by  means  of  results  to  future  generations, 
of  the  truthfulness  and  power  of  Christianity. 


41 

Kirst  Presley  teriaii  Church  and  Rev.  Samuel 

Beach  Jones,  D.  D. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Beach  Jones  began  to  preach  in 
Bridgeton;  October  27th,  1838.  The  Presbytery  of  Phil- 
adelphia received  him  as  a  member  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Mississippi  in  April,  i839<  and  met  in  Bridgeton  on 
May  9th,  and  installed  him  as  pa.stor  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church.  On  that  occasion  the  Rev.  Joseph  H. 
Jones  preached  the  sermon,  on  Acts  XI:  24.  "For  he 
^vas  a  good  man  and  full  of  the  Holy  Gho.st."  The  Rev. 
Henrv  A.  Boardman  proposed  the  constitutional  ques- 
tions and  delivered  the  charge  to  the  pastor  and  the  Rev- 
George  W.  Janvier  gave  the  charge  to  the  people. 

On  Thursdav,  May  21st,  1S63,  the  Presbytery  of  West 
Jersey,  upon  the  reqtiest  of  Doctor  Jones  dissolved  the 
pastoral  relation  which  had  happily  existed  between  him 
and  the  First  Church  of  Bridgeton  for  fully  twenty-four 


vears. 


During  this  happy  ministry,  this  church  enjoyed  a 
steady  and  prosperous  growth.  One  evidence  of  its 
prosperity  was  the  increase  in  benevolent  coiftribuitons. 
In  1839  the  Session  reported  to  the  General  Assembly  a 
total  ^contribution  of  $76.62,  divided  equally  between 
Domestic  and  Foreign  Missions,  In  Doctor  Jones'  last 
report  ri863)the  congregation  had  paid  to  the  Benevo- 
lent Boards  of  the  Church,  one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  twenty  dollars. 

During  this  pastorate,  the  church  building  was  en- 
larged at  a  cost  of  $6,500. 

So  far  as  tho  addition  of  church  members  may  indicate 
the  spiritual  results  of  the  same  period,  the  following 
facts  and  figures  are  worthy  of  remembrance: 

In  1838  the  Session   had  reported  to  the  General  As" 


42 

sembly  a  roll  of  230  communicants.  In  the  first  report 
under  Mr.  Jones  in  1839,  the  number  was  reduced  to  185. 
This  reduction  of  forty-five  members  must  have  been 
due,  partly  to  the  dismissal  of  fifteen  members  to  the 
newly  organized  Second  Church,  partly  to  a  sharp  revis- 
ion of  the  roll.  The  larges".  accessions  to  the  church 
under  Doctor  Jones'  ministry  were  in  the  years  1843, 
1854  and  1859.  During  these  three  years  113  were 
added  on  examination,  and  19  on  certificate  a  total  of  132. 

During  his  entire  ministry  of  24  years  according  to 
the  printed  minutes  from  1840  to  1863  inclusive,  261 
were  added  on  examination,  and  150  on  certificate,  total 
-44^,  and  after  deducting  the  loss  by  death  and  dismissal, 
the  roll  in  1863  was  281.  To  form  a  just  estimate  of  the 
growt'.i  of  the  whole  Presbyterian  Church  in  Bridgeton 
durhig  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century,  it  is  fair  to  combine 
the  reports  of  the  two  churches. 

In  1840,  the  First  Church  reported  a  roll  of  185,  and 
the  Second  Church  reported  a  roll  of  /30.  In  1863 
the  First  Church  reported  a  roll  of  281  and  the  Second 
Church  reported  a  roll  of  1 20.  Thus  the  combined  in- 
crease was  from  215  to  401.  It  is  proper  also  to  re- 
member that  the  population  of  Bridgeton  increased 
from  about  2,315  in  1838,,  to  5,661  in  1865.  It  has  in- 
creased in  100  years  from  300  to  11,424. 

Samuel  Beach  Jones,  the  son  of  Paul  Townsend  Jones 
and  of  his  wdfe  Mary  LamboU  Beach,  was  born  in 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  on  Nov.  23d,  181 1.  His 
paternal  grandfather  was  the  owner  of  a  rice  plantation, 
and  for  many  years  was  the  President  of  the  Bank  of 
South  Carolina.  His  maternal  ancestors  held  a  large  es- 
tate in  Charleston,  and  in  plantations  on  James  Island. 

The  youthful  Sanuiel  had   a  brother  Paul  T.,   and    a 


43 
sister  Eliza  Beach.  The  latter  became  the  wife  of  Rev. 
Hnir3'  A.  BDardinan,  D.  D.  The  children  spent  their 
early  years  in  Charleston.  For  their  later  education, 
their  mother  came  with  them  to  New  Jersey  and  Samuel 
Beach  entered  the  Academy  at  Morristown.  In  due  time 
he  entered  Yale  College  and  was  graduated  in  1832  in 
the  same  class  with  Rev.  Lyman  Atwater.  He  pursued 
the  regular  and  took  an  extra  course  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton.  Among  his  classmates  in  the 
Seminary  were  Professor  Stephen  Alexander  and  the 
Rev.  William  Brown;  John  Cameron  Lowrie;  Samuel 
Irenaeus  Prime, and  Robert  Street. 

Mr.  Jones  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Brunswick  at  Princeton,  February  3d,  1836,  and  was  or- 
dained at  Trenton,  October  4th  1837.  The  Rev.  Doctor 
Rice  preached.  The  Rev.  David  Comfort  presided  and 
proposed  the  constitutienal  questions  and  made  the  or- 
daining prayer  and  Doctor  Alexander  gave  the  charge  to 
the  Evangelist,  who  was  dismissed  the  same  day  to  the 
Presbytery  of  Mississippi. 

For  a  short  time  in  1836-37  he  was  connected,  not  as 
the  local  obituary  notices  asserted,  with  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  in  Philadelphia,  but  as  Assistant  Sec- 
tary of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions,  which  was  then 
located  in  that  city.  For  one  year,  1838,  he  occupied  a. 
chair  as  Professor  of  Theology  and  of  Hebrew  in  Oak- 
land College,  Mississippi.  In  June,  1838,  he  married 
Sarah  Ralston  Chester,  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  John  Ches- 
ter, of  Albany. 

He  was  one  of  the  chief  founders  of  the  West  Jersey 
Academy  and  carried  on  a  lively  discussion  in  reference 
to  it  in  the  West  Jersey  Pioneer  ov^x  the  signature  "Civis." 
while  his  opponent  Rev.   Charles  E.  Wilson,  of  the  Bap- 


44 
tist  Cluircli,   assmned  the  name   "Citizen."     Dr.  Jones 
visited  the  churches    to  raise  money  for  the  Academes 
which  ilourished  as  long  as  he  was   connected  with  the 
Presbytery. 

He  received  the  title  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Prince- 
ton College  in  185 1,  and  was  one  of  its  Trustees  from 
1 86 1  to  1866.  He  was  also  chosen  a  Director  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  in  Princeton  in  1847.  '  Both  these 
offices  he  felt  in  honor  constrained  to  resign  when  he 
changed  his  ecclesiastical  relation. 

If  not  the  most  influential  in  securing  the  organization 
of  the  Presbytery  of  West  Jersey,  which  was  constituted, 
very  soon  after  his  installation,  he  was  thereafter  one  of 
its  most  active  and  influential  members  and  its  stated 
Clerk  from  its  organization  for  ten  years.  Always 
prompt  and  punctual  in  attendance  he  was  an  acknowl- 
edged leader  and  some  facetiously  called  him  the  Pope. 
He  was  moderator  of  Presbytery  in  1845  and  46.  He 
was  chosen  unanimously  to  be  Moderator  of  the  Synod 
of  New  Jersey  at  Princeton,  October  21st,  1851,  and 
opened  the  Synod  ^^  New  Brunswick,  October  19th,  1852, 
with  sermon  founded  on  2  Thess.  II,  13,  14.  Three 
times  he  was  commissioned  to  the  General  Assembly  in 
1846,  1852  and  1855. 

In  March  1854  an  urgent  call  was  presented  to  him 
from  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  of  Newark.  After 
due  deliberation  he  declined  the  call  and  one  controllino- 
reason  was  the  wide  opportunity  for  church  extension 
which  he  foresaw  throughout  an  extensive  region  in 
West  Jersey.  His  z;al  in  this  department  of  work  was 
unsurpassed,  liberal  and  self-denying.  He  took  no  stip- 
ulated vacation;  but  found  recreation  in  visiting  the 
feeble  churches.     I^arge  congregations    gathered  to  hear 


45 
the  silver  trumpet  of  the  Gospel,  when  it  was  annoiinoed 
that  Dr.  Jones  would  preach  at  Leeds  Point,  Absecon, 
Soniers  Point,  Weymouth  Works,  Mays  Landing, Tucka- 
hoe,  Fislerville  and  other  places.  If  during  the  summer, 
following  an  apostle's  example^  he  found  it  pleasant  to 
go  a  fishing,  it  was  more  self  denjnng  to  be  snow  bound 
for  more  than  a  week  during  the  winter  in  the  woods  of 
Atlantic  count}-. 

In  the  troublesome  and  exciting  times  of  the  civil  war, 
a  hint  from  his  session  that  his  views  upon  national 
affairs  were  not  acceptable,  and  were  injurious  to  his  in- 
fluence— was  followed  by  a  prompt  and  peremptory  resig- 
nation of  his  pastoral  charge.  In  the  excitement  no  for- 
mal vote  of  the  congregation  was  allowed  by  him,  and 
therefore  to  this  day,  it  is  uncertain  whether  the  major- 
ity of  the  whole  congregation  would  have  voted  to  concur 
in  the  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation.  Dr.  Jones, 
however,  did  not  remove  his  residence    from   Bridgeton. 

His  subsequent  relation  to  the  Presbytery-  was  not 
happy,  neither  did  it  terminate  happily.  In  1866  Dr. 
Jones  requested  a  letter  of  dismissal  to  the  Presbj-tery  of 
East  Hanover.  The  Presbytery  of  West  Jersey-  demurred, 
postponed  action  and  directed  the  Stated  Clerk  to  inquire 
of  him  whether  he  intended  to  remove  to  a  field  of  labor 
beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  this  Presbytery.  Dr.  Jones 
replied,  "that  he  was  willing  enough  to  answer  a  simple 
question,  but  declined  to  give  reasons,  because  Presb}-- 
tery  had  no  right  to  make  his  dismissal  contingent  upon 
such  question,  for  it  was  unprecedented  and  gratuitously 
insulting  to  him  a  member  in  regular  standing,"  and  Dr. 
Jones  informed  the  Presbytery  that  he  should  not  renew 
his  request;  but  regarding  it  as  virtuall}'  refused  would 
use  the  official  letter  of  the  Stated  Clerk  as  equivalent  to 


46 

ctli'  ordinary-  letter  of  good  standing-  and   with  it  would- 
present  himself  to  the  body  he  wished  to  join. 

At  the  first  Church  of  Elizabeth  during  intervals  of 
S3'nod  October  i8th  1866,  ten  ministers  and  two  ruling, 
elders  being,  present,  Presbpter^'  with  one  dissenting; 
voice  maintained  its  right  and  insisted  upon  having  some 
reason  for  an  application  of  this  kind  and  considering. 
Doctor  Jones*,  course  to  be  disorderly  and  in  violation  of 
his  ordination  vow,  required  him  to  present  at  the  next 
meeting  on  November  i^t  his  reasons  for  desiring  a  dis- 
missal to  the  Presbytery  of  East  Hanover.  On  April 
tyth,  1867  at  Swedesboro,.  Presbytery  struck  from  the 
roll  the  name  of  Doctor  Jones. 

The  real  motive  of  the  Presbytery's  hesitation  to  grant 
a  dismissal  was  the  apprehension  that  Doctor  Jones,  hold- 
ing a  good  standing  in.  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church, 
might  attempt  to  establish  another  Church  in  Bridgeton;. 
as  some  urged  him  to  do,,  and  it  was  evident  in  the  ex- 
cited state  of  feeling  that  a  word  from  him  as  a  leader,, 
would  have  gathered  around  him  man}-  followers.  But  his- 
intimate  friends.-  at  least,  well  knew,  and  as  the  sequel 
proved  that  Doctor  Jones  had  too  noble  and  lofty  a  sense 
of  honor,,  as  a  gentleman  and  a  Christian  to  divide  or  tO' 
do  anything  to  weaken  this  church  for  the  upbuilding  of 
which  he  had  spent  the  strength  of  his  life. 

The  Free  Christian  Commonii'ealth  of  Eouisville,  Ken- 
tucky, of  November  9th,  1866,  copied  ixo\^'(h& Baltimore 
Sun  an  account  of  the  organization  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Chesapeake,  when  Rev,  S.  B.  Jones,  D.  D.  was  chosen 
Mod-ratar  and  R-v.  J.  A.  L^fevre  State!  Clerk  for  the 
ensuing  six  months.  The  same  paper  May  i6th  1867 
contained  a  sermon  preached  at  the  opening  of  the  Pres- 
b^  tery  of  Patapsco   at  its  meeting  in   Baltimore,   April 


47 
lyth.  1867  by  the  Moderator,  S.   B.  Jones,  D.    D.,   piiV 
lished  by  order  of  Presbytery.      The  theme  was  "Christ's 
kingdomnotof  this  world,"  and  the  text  John  XVIII;  30. 

Doctor  Jones  sesms  not  to  have  been  anibitioiis  to 
Avrite  for  the  press.  Besides  the  above  mentioned  ser- 
mon his  discourse  at  the  inauguration  of  the  Tlev.  \Vm. 
Henry  Green  as  Professor  of  Biblical  and  Oriental  L,iter- 
ature  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton  vSept. 
:30th  was  published. 

His  address  at  the  temperance  meeting  in  Bridgeton 
July  5th,  was  published  in  the  WEST  Jersey  PloxEER 
July  14th,  1852, 

We  find  a  pamphlet  on  the  responsibilities  and  duties 
of  teachers,  or  a  charge  to  the  Rev,  Henry  Snyder  on  his 
inauguration  as  principal  of  the  West  Jersey  Academy 
•delivered  on  Thursday,  May  i8th,  1854. 

He  also  wrote  a  history  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
•of  Bridgeton,  but  the  manuscript  cannot  be  found. 

After  the  return  of  peace  to  our  own  distracted  couu' 
try,  overtures  w^ere  presented  from  churches  and  from 
colleges  for  the  services  of  Doctor  Jones,  but  he  preferred 
to  spend  his  advancing  years  in  the  quiet  retirement  of 
"his  old  home,  yet  not  in  idleness.  He  never  refused  an 
invitation  to  preach  when  he  was  invited  by  the  different 
denominations  of  christians,  and  he  was  always  accept^ 
able.  i_^  ,..  c 

From  1870  to  1875  a  period' of  years  he  regularly  sup- 
plied the  pulpit  of  the  Fairfield  Church  at  Fairton  on 
Sabbaths,  and  during  the  week.  A  keen  eyed  stickler 
for  ecclesiastical  law  might  have  discovered  an  informah 
ity,  if  not  irregularity,  but  the  Presbyters-  was  not  dis=- 
posed  to  reopen  old  issues. 

Doctor  Jones  was  admonished  by  failing  health  to  dis- 


A 


/Silo 


48 

continue  his  labors  at  Fairton,  and  after  six  repeated  ap- 
oplectic attacks  he  fell  asleep  March  19th,  1883. 

The  funeral  services,  attended  by  a  large  number  of 
sorrowful  friends  at  his  residence  and  at  the  West  Church, 
were  very  brief  and  without  ostentation. 

Of  his. family  three  children  died  in  infancy.  His  wife 
and  five  children  survive,him.  The  widow  died  at  Orange, 
N.  J.,  March  20th,  1891.  One  son,  a  noble  and  brave 
soldier  of  the  Union  army,  subsequently  died  in  conse- 
quence of  thlre^  wounds  received  in  battle.  A  large  por- 
tion of  Doctor  Jones  valuable  library  of  three  thousand 
volumes  was  given  after  his  death  to  the  Theological 
Seminary   at  Columbia,  vSouth  Carolina. 

Feeling  our  own  inability  to  do  justice  to  the  delinea- 
tion of  his  character  and  lest  personal  friendship  should 
seem  to  warp  the  judgment,  let  us  accept  the  testimony  of 
other  competent  witnesses,  and  quote  first  from  the  Cen- 
tennial Discourse  delivered  July  1876,  in  the  First  Church, 
of  Bridgeton,  by  the  Rev.  J.  Allen  Maxwell,  then  pastor 
of  this  church. 

After  referring  to  Doctor  Jones'  successful  efforts  in 
1845,  to  liquidate  a  heavy  debt,  of  which  the  books  of 
the  trustees  made  honorable  mention,  Mr.  Maxwell  said: 
"Though  it  might  seem  inappropriate  to  eulogize  one, 
who  is  a  resident  of  our  city,  I  cannot  refrain  from  pay- 
ing a  tribute  to  him,  who  for  so  long  a  time  held  the 
foremost  position  in  the  ministry  of  the  southern  portion 
of  the  State;  one  who  b^^  his  learning;  his  talent,  his  em- 
inent qualities  of  leadership;  by  his  social  manners  and 
his  devout  piety,  wielded  in  this  congregation  a  powerful 
influence  for  great  good;  nor  paused  there;  but  wielded 
in  all  this  section  for  many  years  an  influence  on  the 
thought  and  opinion  of  the  commonwealth  that  was  rare 


49 
as  it  was  beneficial.  Many  who  sit  before  nie,  fsaid  Pas- 
tor Maxwell,)  and  many  more  of  other  chnrches,  as  well 
as  scores  who  have  gone  to  their  reward  above,  received 
from  him  the  wisest  teachings  in  the  glorious  tenets  ot 
our  religion  and  especially  as  these  are  set  forth  in  the 
standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  local  papers  of  Bridgeton  at  the  time  of  his  de- 
cease paid  worth}'  tribute  to  the  menior\-  of  Doctor  Jones. 
One  writer  in  XXiq  iVeic  Jeisey  Patriot  of  March  23,  1S83, 
said:  "Doctor  Jones  was  doubtless  the  most  learned  and 
eloquent  minister  ever  stationed  in  this  city.  He  was  of 
a  commanding  presence,  possessed  a  fine  voice,  and  was  a 
beautiful  reader.  None  ever  heard  him  read  and  explain 
his  scripture  lesson  before  preaching,  without  being  im- 
pressed with  his  most  effective  and  instructive  manner 
of  so  doing. 

Another  witness,  evidently  a  Bridgetonian,  wrote  from 
Philadelphia  to  the  Chronicle.  "The  announcement  of 
the  death  of  Rev.  Dr.  S.  B.  Jones,  in  the  last  issue  of  the 
Chronicle,  awakened  memories  of  earl}'  days.  The  Doc- 
tor, when  in  his  prime,  was  a  man  of  decided  character 
and  predominant  influence.  A  Southerner  by  birth,  but 
educated  in  the  North,  he  was  warmly  attached  to  the 
South  and  her  domestic  and  social  institutions.  His  per- 
sonal presence  was  commanding,  his  manners  courtly 
and  prepossessing.  Always  dignified,  especially  in  the 
discharge  of  official  duty  he  inspired  humble  souls  with 
something  like  reverence.  A  prominent  gentleman  of 
my  acquaintance,  once  said  to  me  that  when  he  was  a 
boy,  he  used  to  lookup  to  Dr.  Jones  as  something  almo.st 
divine.  He  was  gifted  with  remarkable  fluency  in  con- 
versation, in  which  he  always  took  a  leading  part,  by 
the  force  of  his  character  and  the  tacit  consent  of  his  in- 


50 
terlocutor.  He  seemed  to  recognize  by  sight,  almost 
everybody  in  the  county  and  possessed  a  surprising 
memory  for  names  and  local  history.  In  the  social  circle 
and  by  the  wayside,  he  often  indulged  in  ready  wit.  He 
was  born  for  leadership,  and  in  almost  any  Presbytery 
would  have  exercised  a  controlling  influence.  He  was  a 
sound  and  judicious  expositor  of  holy  writ,  very  clear  in 
his  deductions,  magnificent  in  delivery.  He  read  h^^mns 
with  suavity  and  tenderness,  which  could  hardly  fail  to 
impress  the  imagination  and  heart  of  the  susceptible.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  deep  pathos,  with  which  he  was 
wont  to  render  Watt's  version  of  the  gad  Psalm,  be- 
ginning "Sweet  is  the  work  ni}^  God  my  King."  He 
was  fond  of  sacred  biography  and  made  the  lives  of  saints 
and  sinners  of  the  Bible  yield  practical  and  profitable 
lessons  for  daily  conduct.  He  had  fine  musical  taste, 
and  no  voice  joined  more  heartily  than  his  in  the  praises 
of  the  congregation.  The  present  prosperity  of  the  ven- 
erable First  Church,  I  think,  is  largely  due  to  his  labors 
and  influence  extending  through  a  quarter  of  a  centur3^ 

The  Session  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  adopted 
the  following  minute  on  March  22,  18S3: 

The  Session  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Bridge- 
ton,  having  heard  with  unfeigned  sorrow  of  the  death  of 
the  former  pasto'r  of  this  church,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Beach 
Jones,  D.  D.,  desire,  by  a  record  in  their  minutes,  to  bear 
testimony  to  his  noble  Christian  character,  his  excellent 
qualities  of  heart  and  mind,  the  untold  'and  inestimable 
influence  for  good  exerted  by  his  preaching  and  his  ex- 
ample in  the  church  and  in  the  communit}-;  his  progres- 
sive educational  and  missionary  spirit,  and  his  fealty  to 
the  great  doctrines  as  well  as  the  Boards  of  the  church. 

They  desire  further  to  express  their  deep  sympathy 
with,  and  sorrow  for  his  afflicted  family,  to  whom  it  is 
directed  that  a  copy  of  this  minute  be  sent. 


51 

History  of  Church  Music  and    Hymnolo^y    in 

Kriclgeton,  hv  Mrs.  Robert  DuBois, 

Read  by  James  J.  Reeves. 

There  are  comparatively  few  facts  known  regarding 
church  music  in  Bridgeton  as  it  was  one  hundred  years 
ago.  Records  kept  by  the  trustees  say:  "'On  the  19th 
dly  of  May  1795,  Jacob  Shull,  Joshua  Reeves,  Clarence 
Alulford  and  Ephriam  Riley,  wxre  appointed  clerks." 
These  were  also  called  Precentors,  and  sometimes  Chor- 
isters, a  misnomer,  as  there  can  be  no  chorister  without 
a  choir.     In  December  of  the  same  year  it  reads  thus: 

"At  a  congregational  meeting  it  was  agreed  unani- 
mously that  Jacob  Shull  should  be  employed  as  clerk  of 
the  church  music  for  the  ensuing  year;  that  he  be  allowed 
a  compensation  of  $32  a  year,  to  be  paid  half  yearly  out 
of  the  sum  arising  irom  the  rents  of  the  pews  and  seats 
in  the  church  if  sufficient  after  paying  Dr.  Clarkson's 
salary,  if  not,  the  deficiency  to  be  provided  by  the  con- 
gregation, subject  to  the  reduction  of  one  dollar  for  every 
default  in  attending  public  worship,  (vSunday  or  week 
day)  and  officiating,  either  himself  or  some  other  suitable 
person  for  him,  when  unable  to  attend  himself." 

"In  January  1797,  at  a  congregational  meeting  held  in 
Bridgeton,  Joshua  Reeves,  Clarence  Mulford  and  Ephriam 
Riley  were  appointed  clerks." 

"In  1798,  Jacob  Shull,  Ephraim  Riley,  Clarence  Mul- 
ford and  Jabez  Smith,  were  appointed  clerks  for  three 
following  years." 

"Januars-  1801,  Lot  Fithian,  Jabez  Smith  and  Richard 
Mulford  were  appointed  clerks.     Lot  Fithian  was  Chair- 
man of  the  Music  Committee.     These  same  were  con- 
tinued for  the  two  following  years." 
January  ist,  1803,   Richard   Mulford,  Lot  Fithian  and 


52 

Ephraim  Riley,  were  chosen  clerks.     Their  motto  must 
have   been  "In  Union  there  is  Strength,"   as  they  had 
only,   at  one  period  in  1796,  considered  one  clerk  suffici 
ent  to  lead  the  singing  of  the  church. 

Our  venerable  friend,  Dr.  Enoch  Fithian,  whose  age 
corresponds  with  that  of  this  church,  says  that  his  earliest 
recollections  are  of  two  leaders,  who  alwaj's  appeared  in 
their  military  suits  at  church — these  were  Gen.  Rose  and 
Col.  McCalla.  This  must  have  been  about  the  year  181 2, 
John  Ware  is  also  named  as  one  of  the  early  leaders. 
These  always  arose  and  stood  before  the  pulpit  below 
stairs,  announced  the  tune  and  gave  the  pitch  from  a 
small  instrument  called  a  tuning  fork.  This  is  the  only 
instrument  ever  used  in  the  old  venerated  church  for  de- 
votional purposes,  if  we  except,  it  might  be,  in  1861,  when 
services  were  held  there  while  the  new  bri.ck  church  was 
being  enlarged.  The  officers,  in  the  old  church  days 
were  by  no  means  scrupulous  about  the  intrcduction  of 
"Fourth  of  July"  celebrations,  and  the  accompanying 
brass  bands,  drums  and  "jingle-jacks"  into  the  church, 
such  privilege  being  accorded,  and  the  following  entr}^  is 
read  from  their  books.  "The  committee  having  in 
charge  preparations  for  the  Fourth  of  Jul}^  to  be  held  in 
the  old  church  would  include  in  their  announcements, 
the  following:  The  singers  of  Bridgeton  are  respectfull}' 
requested  to  take  the  singers  seats  in  the  galler)-."  These 
gatherings  in  this  old  time-honored  church,  are  remem- 
bered by  many  here  to-day.  They  continued  from  1830 
to  1840. 

Going  back  to  the  year  18 18,  it  was  then  noised  about 
that  there  was  a  piano  in  Bridgeton.  It  was  the  prop- 
erty of  one  Mr.  Clark,  who  lived  on  Laurel  Hill,  formerly 
from     Fairton,     N,     J.     This    caused    great    excitement 


53 
among  the  young  people,  and  consternation  in  the  minds 
of  some  older  ones,  as  '  'it  drew  the  attention  of  the  young, 
especiall}'  of  the  young  men,  from  their  daily  avocations 
and  the  sterner  duties  of  life. ' '  Some  of  the  fathers  and 
mothers  regarded  it  as  an  emissary-  of  evil  and  talked  of 
the  expediency  of  advising  it  removed.  The  second  in 
town  was  owned  by  Mr.  Samuel  Seeley,  who  lived  in 
the  brick  house  east  of  the  First  Church  parsonage. 
There  was  one  about  the  same  time  brought  from  Phila- 
delphia by  Miss  Eliza  Murphy,  a  teacher  of  music,  who 
remained  here  a  short  time.  Some  can  remember  the 
lessons  she  taught  them,  both  vocal  and  instrumental. 
It  was  long  after  this,  before  there  were  more  than  a 
half  dozen  pianos  in  Bridgetown. 

It  was  in  1830  that  a  new  departure  occurred  in  the 
music  of  the  old  church.  It  was  the  introduction  of 
mixed  voices  into  the  square  front  seats  of  the  gallery, 
when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Francis  G.  Brewster,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
John  Heilig,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jonathan  Ogden,  and  others, 
leaving  the  restraints  of  the  high  backed  seats  below,  and 
the  ever  watchful  eyes  of  mothers  and  mothers-in-law% 
who  would  sometimes  say  to  them,  "don't  sing  so  loud," 
betook  themselves  to  the  gallery  and  made  those  walls 
resound  wnth  sweet  strains  of  old  "Winter,"  "Bray," 
"Majesty,"  and  "New  Durham."  This  was  a  self-ap- 
pointed choir,  ruled  by  its  own  laws;  it  is  said  there  was 
no  special  leader.  They  were  divided  among  the  three 
square  seats,  while  the  stove-pipe  ran  through  the  centre 
of  the  middle  pew  directly  over  their  heads.  Mrs. 
Brewster  and  Mr.  Jonathan  Ogden,  now  of  Brooklyn, 
are  with  us  here  to-daj',  and  vouch  for  the  truth  of  this 
statement. 

It  was  reserved  for  Mr.   Joseph  Reeves  to  organize  the 


54 
first   regular   choir,    (it    is    thought    the   first   in  South 
Jersey,)  about  the  year  1835,  one  year  before  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  new  church,  at  which  time,   Mr.  Rural  Shaw 
came  from  Baltimore  and  taught  singing  in  connection 
with    the    church.      This  gave   the   first   impetus   to   a 
more  decided  style  of  music.     The    methods    used    laid 
a    foundation    for    a   more    modern    style    of    singing. 
Church  music  made  rapid  .strides,   the  different  parts  be- 
ing more  fully  introduced.      Mr.  Shaw  was  the  author  of 
several  valuable  books,  one,    "The  Seraph"    was  much 
used  thereafter  in  the  church.     His  time  was  limited  to 
six  wrecks,   for  wdiich  he    was  paid   $150.      Classes    met 
every    night    in    the    week,    except   Sundays;    it    being 
thought  of  sufficient   importance  to  give   up   the  usual 
evening  services  for  this  unusual    privilege,    before   un- 
known!.    It  was  a  novel  event  for  Bridgeton,  parents  and 
children    participated.     Juvenile  classes  met  afternoons 
in  the  Session  House,   and  among  these  were  children   of 
six  and  seven  years.      Fathers    and  mothers  encouraged 
them  to  strive  for  the  highest  honor,  which  was  to  arise 
from  their  seats  and  sing  alone,  a  tune  "by  note,"  with- 
out mistake.     All  unnecessary  business  was  laid  aside, 
and  much  time  given  to  study.     Fathers  w^ere  known  to 
write  the  staff  and  copy  music  at   the  desk,  the  counter, 
the  work  bench,   and  by  the  side  of  the  whirling   nail 
machines.     These  w^ere  the  grandfathers  of  some  of  our 
present   singers.      Children  from    this  time  sang  lustily, 
through  the   house   and  everywdiere.       Some   plied    the 
needle  wnth  note  books  on  their  laps;  it  lent  a   charm  to 
the  singing  of  the  Sunday    School;    we  were    having  no 
public  anniversaries  then,  else  it  would   have  compared 
favorably  with  those  of  the  present  day.     At   that  time 
the  hymns  of  the  church  book   were  sung  as  when  they 


55 
used  to  worship  in  the  old  Court  House;  children  com- 
mitted the  hymns  to  memory  then,  and  who  can  estimate 
t"ii  valii?  to  thoss  children,  of  ths  wjrk  of  storing-  in 
their  minds  so  many  of  the  good  old  Psalms  and  hymns, 
while  yet  they  were  impressable;  the  few  books  they  had 
then  were  dearly  prized  and  well  read.  Their  library 
books  were  such  as  "Life  of  Henry  Martyn;"  "History 
of  the  Jews;"  and  "Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Judson,"  and  were 
enjo3-ed  equally  by  mother  and  child. 

Think  of  those  mothers  with  the  plain  brown  hymn 
books,  with  no  index  of  names  to  tell  who  were  the 
authors  of  the  hymns  they  mo.st  dearly  prized.  Their 
intelligent  minds  sought  to  know  such  things,  and  one 
feels  like  dropping  a  tear,  as  an  old  time-w^orn  book  re- 
veals on  many  a  page,  the  names  of  authors  written  in 
pencil,   still  visible,    as   they  learned    that    Mrs.   Brown 

wrote  the  hymn 

"I  love  to  steal  awhile  away 
From  every  cumbering  care." 

And  that  Mrs.  McCarter  sang  from  the  depths  of  her 
heart  that  plaintive  song 

"Saviour  hast  thou  fled  forever. 
From  this  tempest  riven  heart?" 

And  that  Mrs.  Gray  was  the  author  of  that  sweet  dirge, 
"Hark!  to  the  solemn  bell, 
Mournfully  pealing;" 

Say  not,  they  w^ere  too  solemn  in  their  tastes  and  feel- 
ings. Who  knows  wdiat  comfort  it  brought  to  their 
sotils  to  know  that  other  mothers  had  experienced  like 
conflicts  watli  themselves;  and  close  by,  the  name  of 
Watts,  appears  in  pencil  over  the  inspiring  hymn 

"Begin  my  soul  some  Heavenly  theme," 
showing  the}'  did  not  always  tarry  in  the  valley  of  de- 
spondency, but  hied  themselves  to  the  mountain  of  cheer- 
ful song. 


56 

It  was  in  1824,  that  a  well  remembered  book  called 
"Village  H3-mns,"  was  published  by  Dr.  Nettleton,  the 
revivalist.  This  was  used  in  the  Prayer  meetings  when 
some  of  us  were  very  5'oung.  It  contained  some  curious 
and  unique  hymns.     We  will  quote  a  verse  of  one. 

"Oh,  how  the  resurrection  light 
Will  clarify  believers  sight, 
How  joyful  will  the  saints  arise 
And  rub  the  dust  from  off  their  eyes." 
Our    mothers   loved   and  were  satisfied  with  the    old 
psalms  and  hymns,  the}'  were  taught  the  children  in  the 
every-day  schools.   The  widow  of  one  of  the  old  '  'Clerks, ' ' 
Mrs.  Thomas  Woodrtiff,  taught  a   school  for  small  chil- 
dren in  a  house  on  the  very  spot  where   the   new  brick 
church  stands.    Children  of  seven  j-ears  were  called  upon 
to  repeat  such  hymns  as 

"Father,  whate'er  of  earthly  bliss 
Thy  sovereign  will  denies;" 
In  one  mind,  at  least,  that  hymn  never  fails  to  call  up 
the  face  and  form  of  "old  Mrs.  Betsy  Woodruff,"  Much 
of  the  modern  hymnology  touches  only  the  emotions;  the 
old  reaches  to  both  heart  and  intellect.  The  more 
modern  h3'mns  of  Ra^'  Palmer,  which  all  love  to  sing, 
are  peerless,  such  as 

"Come,  Jesus,  Redeemer,  abide  thou 
with  me; — "         and 

"My  faith  looks  up  to  thee 
Thou  Lamb  of  Calvary. " 
But  there  can  be  no  better  than  the  h^mms  of  Newton, 
Steele,  Wesley    and    Cowper,    timid,    morbid,    prince  of 
poets, — Cowper — How  sublimel}-  he  sings 
"God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way 
His  wonders  to  perform;" 
And  how  touchingly  the  solemn  hymn, 

"There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood." 


57 

But  it  seems  presumptuous  to  touch  on  this  subject,  or 
to  draw  comparisons.  The  fountain  of  Hymnology  is 
too  broad  to  span  and  too  deep  to  fathom. 

Returning  to  1837,  the  year  when  the  first  choir  was 
established.  It  was  about  this  time  when  the  first  in- 
struuent,  a  bass  viol,  was  intro'luced  and  played  by  Mr. 
Charles  Cutter,  of  New  England.  He  was  assistant  to 
Mr.  Henry  Freeman,  Principal  of  the  Bank  Street  Acad- 
emy. When  Mr.  Reeves  asked  permission  to  use  it  in 
the  choir,  the  Trustees  replied:  "If  you  want  it  you  must 
have  it,  but  the  less  said  about  it  the  better.  You  will 
have  to  do  it  on  the  sly;"  so  sacrilegious  did  it  seem  to 
them  to  take  a  fiddle  into  the  church.  On  the  morning 
of  its  admission  the  choir  sang  before  the  church, 
"Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds." 

All  objection  was  withdrawn — the  viol  conquered.  A 
similar  instrument  was  used  for  several  j-ears  after  this, 
played  by  a  much  esteemed  Elder;  now  gone  to  his  rest, 
Mr.  Nathaniel  Fish. 

Among  the  first  singers  of  soprano  were  Mrs.  Jane 
Sheppard  I^ee,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Fithian  Dowdney  and 
Mrs.  Jane  Barber  Parvin,  now  of  Philadelphia.  The 
earliest  alto  singers  were  the  late  Miss  Hannah  Elmer 
and  Miss  Sarah  B.  Potter,  afterwards  Mrs.  William  G. 
Nixon. 

The  first  melodeon  was  introduced  in  1850.  The  first 
to  pla}'  this  was  Miss  Marj'  H.  Elmer,  afterward  Mrs. 
Judge  John  T.  Nixon,  of  Trenton.  The  second  was 
Miss  Martha  P.  Reeves,  now  Mrs.  George  W.  Bush  of 
Wilmington,  Del.  The  third  was  Miss  Sarah  Fithian  of 
East  Commerce  street. 

In  1862  a  pipe  organ  was  bought,  In  1873  it  was  sold 
and  a  "Grand  Hook  and  Hasting's"  organ  was  built,  at 


58 
a  cost  of  $3,500.  Mr.  James  Smith  of  Philadelphia,  was 
first  organist.  He  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  William  Wright, 
whose  father  was  a  Baptist  minister  at  Roadstown.  Mr. 
Wright  was  very  youthful,  of  grave  and  earnest  manner, 
with  strong  denominational  proclivities,  yet,  in  the  three 
years  intercourse  with  our  equally  strong  Presbyterian- 
ism,  there  was  never  a  ripple  to  disturb  friendly  feeling. 
His  was  a  character  to  admire,  ever  faithful,  coming 
through  sunshine  or  storm,  in  carriage  or  on  horseback 
Saturday  nights  to  rehearsals,  and  back,  to  return  early 
on  the  Sabbath  morning.  The  salary  was  not  large,  and 
the  organists  in  the  early  days  were  the  guests  of  the 
choristers,  who  gladl}^  pay  this  little  tribute  to  his  worth. 
He  was  loa^,"  pastor  of  a  church  in  Connecticut,  and  died 
but  a  few  weeks  ago.  Mr.  Wright's  successors  were  Prof. 
Agthe,  Mr.  William  I.  Howell,  Mrs.  Sarah  DuBois 
Brewer,  Mrs.  Bessie  Reeves  Fithian,  Miss  Mary  F. 
Reeves,  and  Mr.  Preston  Miller,  who  now  most  effi- 
ciently fills  the  position. 

In  all  these  years  there  have  been  but  three  leaders  of 
this  choir.  Mr.  Joseph  Reeves,  the  originator,  most 
faithfully  conducted  it  for  twenty-seven  j-ears.  Many 
can  testify  to  his  works  of  faith  and  labors  of  love.  His 
record  as  chorister  and  Elder,  is  on  High.  He  threw  his 
mantle  upon  the  shoulders  of  Mr.  Robert  DuBois,  in  the 
year  1861 ,  which  duty  he  continued  to  perform  for  twenty 
years.  It  may  be  said  that  to  him,  both  church  and 
town  owe  much  for  progress  in  music.  His  was  a  zeal 
which  water  could  not  quench,  nor  floods  drown;  having 
a  musical  force  in  his  own  house,  no  storm,  however 
severe,  could  prevent  him  with  his  family  from  the  duties 
of  his  choir;  no  expense  was  ever  grudged,  no  sacrifice 
too  great  to  make;  no  choice  selection  too  good  to  give  to 


59 

the  straggling  few  who  might  come  to  church  on  a  rainy- 
day.  His  motto  was,  "Those  who  come  through  storm, 
deserve  the  bjst  music  and  shall  have  it."  Mr.  James 
J.  Reeves  assisted  Mr.  DuBois  in  the  leadership  for  a 
short  period,  when  he  felt  called  to  other  responsibilities. 

In  1881,  Mr.  DuBois  resigned  in  favor  of  Mr.  Thomas 
R.  Janvier,  who  is  now  the  popular  leader,  and  standing 
upon  this  platform,  leading  the  music  upon  this  immortal 
occasion,  speaks  for  himself. 

It  seems  suitable  here  that  mention  shall  be  made  of 
Mr.  Lorenzo  Pierce,  who  for  twenty-five  years,  with  but 
little  compensation,  faithfully  served  as  organ  blower. 
In  the  more  primitive  days,  it  was  he,  who  stood  smiling, 
ever  ready  with  the  horse  which  was  to  carry  the  organ- 
ist to  his  country  home.  He  has  been  recently  super- 
seded by  the  new  water  motor. 

Thus  far  our  reference  has  been  mainlj^  of  the  First 
Church.  The  Second  has  kept  pace  with  it.  It  has  the 
honor  of  having  the  first  organ  in  Bridgeton.  It  was,  of 
course,  small  compared  with  their  present  organ.  Their 
choir  has  sustained  its  good  reputution  for  singing,  and 
has  had  some  fine  organists;  such  as  their  Hardy,  their 
Roney,  their  Biglow,  and  their  Mears,  and  lastly  their 
Lang.  The  Third  Church  has  a  superior  organ,  over 
which  several  worthy  of  mention  have  presided.  Chief  of 
whom.  Rev.  Mr.  L-  E.  Coyle  deserves  more  than  a  pass- 
ing notice,  for  clear  insight,  delicacy  of  finish  and  most 
artistic  performance,  faithful  as  an  advisor  and  instruc- 
tor, ever  ready  to  help  towards  the  elevation  of  a  fine 
musical  standard  in  our  growing  city.  His  place  can 
scarcely  be  filled.  Miss  Maud  Cheshire  is  at  present  the 
faithful  and  able  organist  in  this  church. 

These  three  churches  have  worked  together  for  the  best 


6o 

interest  of  music  in  various  social  and  benevolent  enter- 
prises, and  united  as  the}'-  are  in  all  essential  points,  we 
would  to-day,  in  this  great  Centennial  gathering,  hal- 
lowed by  all  its  precious   suiToundings,   clasp  hands  and 

sing 

"Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds." 

There  have  been  other  aids  to  music  in  this  town: 
Musical  Conventions  were  organized  in  1855  and  con- 
tinued for  twent}^  years,  ditring  which  time  our  town  en- 
joyed the  advantage  of  much  of  the  best  talent  in  the 
country.  The  first  session  w^as  held  in  Sheppard's  build- 
ing, meetings  continued  for  three  days  and  were  con- 
ducted by  the  favorite  singer  and  composer,  Oeorge  H. 
Root.  H2  was  followed  by  Prof.  Bradbury,  who  brought 
out  the  beautiful  "Cantata  of  Esther  the  Queen."  He 
was  the  author  of  some  of  our  sweetest  tunes,  one  of  them, 
"Olive's  Brow,"  is  most  dear  to  many  hearts. 

It  is  likely  that  none  made  a  more  profound  impres- 
sion upon  his  class  than  the  esteemed  and  lamented  Dr. 
Hastings.  Many  here  to-day  can  recall  his  venerable 
face  and  earnest  christian  words  as  he  labored  to  instil 
in  the  minds  of  his  pupils  the  importance  of  rightly  in- 
terpreting the  words  of  a  hymn,  and  of  adapting  it  to 
song.  Many  of  his  beautiful  hymns  can  be  found  in  the 
index  of  our  Hymnals. 

Prof.  Agthe  established  the  first  classical  singing 
society  in  Bridgeton,  about  twenty-five  or  thirty  years 
ago,  "The  Choral  Union."  The  public  mind  was  not 
yet  prepared  for  the  advent  of  so  high  a  class  of  music, 
and  the  society  had  a  difficult  work  before  them.  At 
that  time  "Schiller's  Song  of  the  Bell,"  was  taken  up, 
diflBcult  selections  were  studied;  the  class  plodded  on, 
giving  occasional  public  rehearsals,  but  were  often  much 


6i 

disheartened  to  read  criticisms  in  papers  say,  "the  sing- 
ing was  far  above  the  heads  of  the  people  who  would 
much  rather  her.r  a  simple  Scotch  ballad  than  listen  to 
the  opera  of  Martha  or  the  Oratorios  of  Creation  or  of 
Messiah." 

For  many  years  after  this,  there  was  no  societ)^  for  the 
study  of  the  higher  class  of  music,  until  Mr,  Aaron 
Taylor  of  Philadelphia,  came  to  teach  at  Ivy  Hall,  and 
established  the  well  known  Musical  Union,  which  was 
later  carried  on  to  greater  attainments  by  Mr.  Thomas 
R.  Janvier. 

It  ma}'  be  well  to  note  some  of  the  connecting  links  in 
the  chain  of  this  brief  and  imperfect  history.  The  law 
of  lisred  t}^  is  sound  in  this  as  in  all  things  else.  Observe 
the  prominent  singers  and  plaj^ers  of  instruments  in  this 
town.  Trace  the  descendents  of  those  who  have  been 
leaders  or  "Clerks"  in  the  church  music  in  this  com- 
munity, during  the  last  centur>\  You  will  find  them 
among  the  leading  singers  of  to-da}-.  The  tuneful 
mant'.es  of  the  fathers  and  mothers  have  fallen  upon  the 
children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generations. 

Ju!}'  26,  1892. 


62 

Second     F'resl^j'terian.     CliurcH. — Paper     Pre" 
pared  by  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Readle. 

Previous  to  the  year  1836,  the  First  Church  of  Bridge- 
ton,  under  the  leadership  of  Godly  men,  the  fragrance  cf 
whose  good  deeds  scents  the  air  and  naakes  it  sweet  as 
the  breath  of  a  blossoming  clover  field,  even  now  in  the 
day  of  their  no  less  worthy  grandchildren,  held  the  land 
almost  in  its  own  grasp.  There  were  only  two  churches 
in  the  town  beside,  and  these  as  )'et  but  feeble.  The 
noble  work  of  the  First  Church  was  so  well  done,  that  a 
crowd  of  worshipers  had  gathered  into  its  walls;  its 
pews  were  occupied  and  there  was  little  or  no  room  for 
further  growth. 

At  this  time  God  moved  the  hearts  of  a  few,  to  set  on 
foot  the  project  of  organizing  a  second  church,  and  of 
erecting  another  building  for  its  use,  in  order  to  make 
place  for  growth,  and  opportunity. to  work  for  the  Master. 
With  this  in  view  many  talks  were  had,  and  as  a  promise 
of  what  was  to  come  and  of  the  interest  which  was  had 
in  the  movement,  $616.02  were  raised  to  carry  out  the 
good  work.  But  so  persistent  and  outspoken  was  the 
opposition  by  the  many  to  this  movement,  who  feared  its 
effect  in  weakening  the  mother  church,  that  it  was  de- 
cided wise  to  drop  the  matter  for  a  while,  until  the  way 
should  seem  a  little  more  clear  and  not  quite  so  beset 
with  obstacles. 

Even  the  Presbyter}^  of  West  Jersey,  refused  to  organ- 
ize a  new  church  and  threw  the  petition  of  those  request- 
ing it  out  of  court,  on  the  ground  that  there  was  no  need 
in  Bridge  ton  for  two  churches;  and  that  a  second  would 
only  serve  to  paralj-ze  the  first  instead  of  stimulating  it; 
and  that  it  would  necessitate  the  waste  of  funds  which 
ought  to  be  put  to  better  use. 


SECOND    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 


63 

The  money  which  had  been  given  for  the  enterprise, 
with  the  consent  of  the  donors,  was  turned  over  to  the 
Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Millville,  to  aid 
them  in  the  establishment  of  Presbyterianism  in  that 
place. 

So  great,  however,  was  the  need  of  more  church  room, 
and  so  evident  was  the  fact,  that  the  effort  could  not  sleep 
long;  and  after  a  few  months,  the  work  that  had  been 
seemingly  abandoned,  was  again  undertaken  with  the 
most  earnest  determination,  that  as  it  seemed  to  be  God's 
work,  it  must  go  on,  and  no  opposition  should  be  allowed 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  its  accomplishment. 

In  order  to  make  a  more  definite  move  and  to  inaugu- 
rate the  work,  through  the  courtesy  of  the  officials  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  then  on  the  corner  of 
Washington  and  Bank  .streets,  the  little  frame  building 
was  hired  for  part  of  the  day,  and  Sabbath  afternoon  ser* 
vices  were  at  once  begun. 

The  first  service  was  held  on  the  25th  of  August  1838, 
and  the  first  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Mr.  Davis  of 
the  Fairmount  Church,  Philadelphia.  From  this  date 
services  were  regularly  held  Sabbath  afternoons  in  that 
place,  until  the  completion  of  what  was  sometimes  called 
the  Stone  Church  in  November  1840,  more  than  two 
years  after. 

House  to  house,  prayer  meetings  were  held  during  the 
week,  and  a  large  open  wagon  was  used  to  pick  up  and 
carry  to  and  fro,  those  who  lived  at  too  great  a  distance 
for  ea.sy  walking,  or  who  were  unable  to  attend  except 
b}'  these  means. 

A  meeting  of  those  in  favor  of  organizing  a  new  church 
was  called  for  Sept.  22,  1838,  of  which  the  following  are 
the  minutes: 


64 

"A  meeting  of  persons  friendly  to  organizing  a  second  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Bridgeton,  was  held  in  the  old  M.  E.  Church,  on 
Saturday  evening  Sept.  22,  1838.  Abijah  Harris  was  chosen  Chair- 
man and  F.  G.  Brewster,  Secretary.  The  object  of  the  meeting 
being  stated  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jno.  Grant,  of  Philadelphia,  it  was 
unanimously  resolved, 

That,  after  months  of  serious  consideration,  taking  all  the  cir- 
cumstances into  view,  having  weighed  the  matter  in  our  own 
minds;  we  are  fully  persuaded  that  the  interest  of  the  Redeemer's 
Kingdom,  (by  the  blessing  of  God)  may  be  greatly  promoted  by 
the  establishment  of  a  second  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  town,  to 
be  under  the  care  ot  the  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 

Resolved,  That  a  petition  be  drawn  up  immediately  and  signers 
obtained  for  the  purpose  above  mentioned.  Also  that  D.  P.  Strat- 
ton,  Josiah  Fithian  and  F.  G.  Brewster,  be  a  committee  to  circulate 
said  petition  and  present  it  to  the  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
and  have  power  to  transact  any  other  business  relative  to  the  es- 
lablishment  of  the  said  contemplated  church. 

The  most  friendly  and  christian  spirit  pervaded  the  meeting 
which  was  dismissed  by  singing  the  following  verse,  and  prayer  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Grant. 

'Lo  what  an  entertaining  sight 
These  friendly  brethren  prove, 
Whose  cheerful  hearts  in  bands  unite 
Of  harmony  and  love.' 

ABIJAH  HARRIS,  Chairman. 

F.  G.  Brewster,  Secretary." 

Thirty-one  names  were  signed  to  this  petition,  and  as 
the  Old  School  Presbyter}-  of  West  Jersey  had  rejected 
the  application  for  a  second  organization  and  declined  to 
father  it  or  foster  it  or  have  anything  to  do  with  it,  ap- 
plication was  made  to  the  New  School  Third  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia.     A  matter  not  of  choice  but  necessity. 

This  Presbytery  at  its  meeting  at  Columbus,  in  this 
State,  Oct.  2,  1838,  took  the  following  action. 

Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  applicants  be  granted  and  that 
Rev.  Messrs.  Scott  and  Patton  be  a  committee  to  organize  them  in- 
to a  church,  if  the  way  be  clear. 


65 

On  Thursday  the  nth  of  Oct.,  was  held  a  special  ser- 
vice of  self  consecration  and  of  prayer  for  help  and  guid- 
ance, and  for  special  blessing  on  the  new  enterprise,  which 
seemed  almost  too  great  for  such  a  feeble  handful  to 
carr>^  on.  And  on  Sunday  after  (the  14th)  the  committee 
from  Presbytery  visited  Bridgeton  and  organized  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Bridgeton,  with  seventeen 
members,  of  whom  only  one  remains  to  this  day. 

Many  of  these  seventeen  were  received  not  by  letter 
but  on  satisfactory  evidence  of  their  being  in  good  and 
regular  standing  of  evangelical  churches;  for  so  bitter 
was  the  feeling  that  the  sessions  of  the  church  to  which 
they  belonged  in  the  Presbytery  of  West  Jersey,  Old 
School,  refused  to  grant  them  letters  to  this  New  School 
Church. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  the  reasons  which  in- 
fluence:! these  good  msn  of  those  days  to  refuse  to  recog- 
nize this  church. 

The  following  is  a  minute  of  a  meeting  of  session  at 
which  such  action  was  taken,  and  the  reason  is  given 
therefor. 

"Jan.  16,  1S39,  Session  met  agreeably  to  appointment  atthe  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  Uriah  Woodruff.  Members  present,  Messrs.  Enoch 
H.  Moore,  Dan.  Simpkins,  and  Uriah  D.  Woodruff.  Rev.  Berj. 
Tyler  Jr.,  of  Greenwich,  presided  by  request  of  Session.  Applica- 
tions were  laid  before  the  session  for  dismission  on  certificates  to 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  for  the  following  persons,  viz. : 
Mrs.  Rachel  Miller,  Hannah  Harris,  Anna  Maria  Crane,  Ruth 
Brewster,  Margaret  Lummis  and  Miss  Phebe  Fithian. 

"After  mature  deliberation  the  Session  came  to  the  following 
conclusion.  That  whereas  certain  persons,  viz.,  F.  G.  Brewster  and 
others,  did  apply  to  the  Session  of  this  church  on  the  29th  of  Sep- 
tember, last  to  be  dismissed  on  certificate.  Certifying,  moreover, 
that  it  was  their  purpose  to  be  regularly  organized  as  a  Presbyterian 
Church,    and   whereas  said  applicants  upon  their    request  being 


66 

granted  did  apply  to  and  were  organized  a  church  by  a  body 
which  we  do  not  acknowledge  as  forming  anj-  part  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States,  and  said  body  not  being  recog- 
nized by  the  General  Assembly  of  said  church,  and  whereas,  the 
petition  of  said  applicants,  viz..  Rachel  Miller,  Hannah  Harris, 
Anna  Maria  Crane,  Ruth  Brewster,  Margaret  L/ummis  and  Phebe 
Fithian,  does  specify  their  intention  to  connect  themselves  with 
that  church,  so  organized  and  known  by  the  name  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Bridgeton.  Therefore  resolved,  that  certifi- 
cates of  their  regular  standing  as  niembeis  of  this  church,  be 
granted  to  said  applicants.  Declaring  however,  that  this  Session 
do  not  acknowledge  said  church  with  w'hich  they  are  about  to 
unite,  as  forming  anv  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  these 
United  Stales. 

And  further  resolved   that  a    copy  of  the  above  preamble   and 
resolutions  be  presented  to  said  applicants  with  their  certificates. 
Signed,  BENJ.  TYLER,  JR.> 

Moderator  of  Session. 
CsKTiFiCATS.  W^  hereby  certify  that  Rachel  Miller,  Hannah 
Harris,  Ruth  Brewster,  Anna  Maria  Crane,  Margaret  Lummis  and 
Phebe  H.  Fithian,  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Bridgeton,  in  regular  standing,  and  are  hereby  dismissed  at  their 
own  request  to  unite  with  a  certain  body  called  a  Second  Presby- 
terian Church,  which  body,  however,  this  Session  pursuant  to  the 
above  resolutions,  do  not  acknowledge  as  forming  any  part  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

Signed,  ENOCH  MOORE, 

DAN.  SIMPKINS, 
URIAH  D.  WOODRUFF. 
January  i6,  1839 

Israel  Miller  and  F.  G.  Brewster  were  elected  Elders 
of  the  new  church.  Mr.  Miller  subsequently  removed 
his  connection  to  Greenwich,  and  died  in  1891. 

This  organization  service  which  meant  so  much  to 
those  who  took  part  in  it,  and  so  much  to  the  present 
congregation  of  the  Second  Church  who  succeed  to  their 
inheritance,  was  closed  with  the  hymn 

"Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds," 


67 
and  with  a  prayer  for  God's  blessing  upon  the  people 
and  the  enterprise  that  started  with   such   assured  pros- 
pects of  years  of  labor  and  trouble  before  its  final  success. 

A  meeting  of  the  congregation,  probably  the  first,  was 
held  November  3,  1838,  of  which  General  Ebenezer 
Elmer,  was  Chairman.  The  only  business  apparently , 
was  the  choice  of  a  site  for  the  new  church  and  the  elec- 
tion of  a  Trustee. 

It  was  almost  unanimously  (only  three  dissenting) 
decided  to  build  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  or  "creek," 
as  it  is  called  in  the  minutes. 

D.  P.  Stratton  and  Abijah  Harris  were  elected  Trus- 
tees and  instructed  to  go  out  with  a  subscription  paper 
and  raise  money.  A  good  beginning  of  their  duties,  and 
a  service  which  has  very  largely  fallen  out  of  fashion  m 

these  days. 

They  were  also    to    select  a  suitable  location  for  the 

church  building  and  report. 

May  II,  1839,  six  months  after,  a  meeting  of  the  male 
members  was  held  to  hear  the  report  of  these  Trustees. 
$4,020.50  had  been  subscribed.  A  large  sum  for  those 
days,  and  for  so  feeble  a  band.  A  lot  also  on  North 
Pearl  street  had  been  off"ered  to  the  church  by  Daniel  P. 
Stratton  as  a  gift,  which  was  most  thankfully  accepted. 
Additional  Trustees  were  elected,  and  the  Board  when 
fully  constituted  consisted  of  Samuel  Harris,  Francis  G. 
Brewster,  Johii  Mahan,  D.  P.  Stratton  and  Adrian  Odgen. 
Each  one  of  whom  subscribed  to  the  following  oath. 

J   . do  swear,  that  I  will  support  the  constitution 

of  the  United  States.     So  help  me  God.  ^ 

Signed, 

J       do  sincerely  profess  and  swear  that  I  do  and  will 

bear  true  faith  and  allegiance  to  the  government   established    111 

this  State  under  authority  of  the  people.     So  help  me  God.  ^ 

Signed,  " 


6B, 

^,i,j  X,  • ,  do  solemnly  SA-ear  that  I  will  faithfally  ex- 
ecute the  trust  reposed  in  me  as  Trustee  of  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Bridgelon,  according  to  the  best  of  my  ability 
and  understanding.     So  help  me  God. 

Signed,  ' 

After  subscribing  to  such  oaths  as  these,  the  county. 
State  and  church  ought  surely  to  have  each  been  able  to 
count  upon  the  hearty  support  and  service  of  these  Trus- 
tees, that  they  would  be  ready  on  the  instant  to  raise 
money  for  the  last  or  arms  for  the  firs':  in  case  of  need. 

On  the  17th  of  August,  1839,  the  corner  stone  was  laid 
with  the  usual  ceremonies  by  Rev.  Mr.  Campbell,  of 
Philadelphia,  assisted  by  Rev.  Mr.  Porter  of  Fairfield. 

A  Sunday  School  was  of  cotirse  started  at  once,  and 
was  opened  under  the  Superintendency  of  Elder  Brewster, 
with  five  teachers  and  seventeen  scholars  in  a  little  room 
on  the  North  side  of  Commerce  street,  and  just  East  of 
the  bridge. 

Here  the  accommodation  soon  became  too  small,  and 
the  school  was  moved  to  the  upper  story  of  a  blacksmith 
shop  on  Latirel  street,  next  door  to  the  First  Church, 
where  it  remained  until  the  first  Sabbath  in  May  1840, 
when  it  made  its  final  change  into  the  lecture  room  of 
the,  as  yet,  unfinished  church,  where,  amid  the  dirt  and 
confusion  of  the  incomplete  work  overhead,  the  school 
met  and  grew.     Happy  to  be  at  last  in  its  own  house. 

November  18,  1839,  Rev.  James  Stratton,  son  of  Daniel 
P.  Stratton,  was  invited  to  fill  the  pulpit  for  six  months, 
which  he  did  most  acceptably  to  the  little  clnirch  and 
with  great  profit  to  it. 

At  this  time  the  church  suffered  from  a  severe  blow  in 
the  death  of  Mr.  Daniel  P.  Stratton,  who  was  the  life  of 
the  movement.  It  seemed  a  sad  providence.  Mr.  Stratton 
frequently  said  that  if  he  could  live  to  walk  the  floor  of 


69 

the  new  church,  he  would  be  content,  but  he  was  denied 
that  praj-er.  While  not  a  member  of  the  church  himself, 
Mr.  Stratton  had  in  the  ministry  a  brother,  Rev.  David 
Stratton,  for  many  years  the  beloved  pastor  of  the  church 
in  Salem,  N.  J.;  two  sons,  William  and  James,  and  two 
grandsons,  William  and  Wallace;  all  formerly  settled  as 
pastors  in  the  South. 

On  the  15th  of  July  1840,  Rev.  J.  L,.  Bartlett,  was 
called  to  the  pastorate,  and  that  he  might  be  free  from 
all  worldl}^  care  and  avocations  was  promised  a  salary  of 
$300. 

He  held  the  call  for  a  year  and  over,  while  making  up 
his  mind  as  to  accepting  it.  He  finally  declined  it,  but 
in  the  meanwhile  occupied  the  pulpit  and  went  with  the 
little  congregation  into  its  long  delayed,  but  at  last  com^ 
pleted  building  on  the  6th  of  November,  1840,  when  the 
church  was  dedicated.  Rev.  John  Grant,  a  staunch  friend, 
preaching  the  sermon. 

Mr.  Bartlett  was  a  man  very  much  beloved  and  an 
unusually  good  preacher,  and  it  w^as  unfortunate  that  his 
health  would  not  allow  him  to  remain  in  the  North.  He 
died  April  24,  1887,  at  Sumter,  S.  C. 

Mrs.  Bartlett  is  .still  living,  eighty-two  years  of  age; 
somewhat  of  an  invalid,  with  a  clear  mind  and  unfailing 
memory. 

On  the  igtli  of  July  1841,  a  congregational  meeting 
was  held,  at  which  time  it  w^as  resolved  to  attempt  to 
paj'  off  the  church  debt,  which  amounted  to  $1,620.27, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  raise  the  salary  of  the  minister, 
Mr.  Bartlett,  to  $400,  and' to  give  the  sexton  $30  for  his 
services. 

On  the  26th  of  January  thenextyear,  (1842)  a  call  was 
given  to  Rev.  William  A.  Mandell,  which  was  accepted 


jo 
by  him.     He  remained  ten  and  a  half  years,  preaching 
his  last  sermon  as  pastor  of  the  church,  September  29, 

1844. 

Mr.  Man  dell,  after  leaving  Bridgeton,  acted  as  City 
Missionar>^  in  Philadelphia  for  one  year,  went  to  Hins- 
dale, New  Hampshire,  to  Stowe,  Massachusetts;  was 
settled  in  South  Dartmour  for  ten  years;  then  went  to 
Lunenburgh,  Massachusetts;  to  Cambridge,  of  the  same 
State,  where  he  now  resides,  eighty-one  years  of  age, 
having  celebrated  his  golden  wedding. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  pastorate,  July  30,  1842,  Mr. 
John  Mahan  was  elected  Elder.  He  was  ordained  and 
installed  by  Rev.  Ethan  Osborn,  but  lived  only  eighteen 
months  to  bear  the  office. 

At  this  time  also,  a  revival  of  religion  swept  the  church, 
and  under  the  earnest  preaching  of  Mr.  Mandell,  fifty- 
nine  (59)  were  turned  from  their  sins  to  Christ  and  united 
with  the  church,  more  than  doubling  the  membership. 

After  the  departure  of  Mr.  Mandell,  the  Rev.  J.  H. 
VanDyke  came  to  supply  the  pulpit  for  six  months,  and 
was  called  to  the  pastorate  April  5,  1845,  at  a  salary  of 
$400.     The  call  was  accepted  and  he  was  installed  June 

17-  1845. 

The  next  year  in  April,  he  resigned  on  account  of  ill 
health.  His  resignation,  however,  was  not  accepted, 
and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  confer  with  him  and 
induce  him  if  possible  to  change  his  purpose  and  remain 
with  the  church. 

This  committee  reported  that  the  state  of  Mr,  Van- 
Dyke's  health  was  such  that  he  could  remain  only  on 
condition  of  a  six  month's  or  a  year's  vacation  and  the 
continuation  of  his  salary,  but  that  he  knew  that  the 
church  ought  not,  and  could  not  accept  the  conditions. 


71 

On  the  13th  of  April,  1846,  the  pastorate  was  therefore 
dissolved. 

For  a  year  and  a  half  the  pulpit  was  then  vacant.  Rev. 
J.  ly.  Bartlett,  of  South  Carolina,  being  stated  supply 
for  much  of  the  time,  however. 

In  October  1847,  Mr.  VanDyke  was  again  called  and 
installed  for  the  second  time  in  November  of  that  same 
year.  During  the  following  two  years,  he,  finding  his 
views  changed,  determined  to  leave  the  New  School 
branch  of  the  church  and  unite  with  the  Old.  And 
with  that  purpose  in  view,  asked  Presbytery  to  dissolve 
the  relation  existing  between  himself  and  the  Second 
Church,  which  request  was  granted;  and  the  dissolution 
took  place  July  9th,  1850. 

The  congregation  then,  after  much  talking  over  the 
matter  in  private,  met  to  consider  whether  it  would  not 
be  a  wise  thing  for  them  to  sever  their  relation  also,  with 
the  New  School  body  and  unite  with  the  Presbytery  of 
West  Jersey.  Those  who  had  befriended  and  stood  by 
the  church  in  its  weakness,  were  consulted;  but  natur- 
ally, not  very  much  council,  such  as  the  church  wanted, 
was  given.  However,  after  much  deliberation,  on  Sep- 
tember 4th,  1850,  it  was  resolved  to  unite  with  the  Pres- 
bytery of  West  Jersey,  Old  School.  And  in  the  mean- 
while Mr.  VanDj^ke  was  requested  to  supply  the  pulpit 
for  six  months. 

As  a  result  of  this  change  from  New  School  to  Old, 
Elder  Brewster,  feeling  that  he  could  not  conscientiously 
retain  his  place  as  an  officer  of  the  church,  resigned  from 
the  Eldership,  April  3,  1852.  However,  he  never  with- 
drew from  the  church  itself,  or  from  his  earnest  active 
work  and  interest  in,  and  for  it. 

Another  more  pleasant  result  from  this  change   of  the 


72 

church  relation  was  the  coming  of  a  band  of  ver>'  much 
needed,  and  very  welcome  helpers  from  the  overflowing 
First  Church.  Some  of  them  remain  to  this  day,  and  the 
children's  children  of  others  have  taken  the  places  of 
their  grandparents.  The  list  is  as  follows,  and  there  are 
in  it  the  names  of  four  Elders  of  the  church  and  the  wife 
of  a  fifth;  Alphonso  Woodruff,  Mrs.  Sarah  Woodruff, 
Robert  Barber,  Mrs.  Emily  Barber,  Lewis  McBride,  Mrs. 
Rebecca  B.  McBride,  Samuel  Applegit,  Mrs.  Jane  Apple- 
git,  Mrs.  Phebe  Fithian,  Miss  Ruth  James,  Miss  Rebecca 
McBride,  Alexander  Stratton,  Alexander  Kirkpatrick, 
Ephraim  Buck. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  March  of  that  year,  Robert 
Barber  and  Alphonso  Woodruff  were  elected  Elders,  and 
ordained  April  fourth. 

April  25,  1852,  Mr.  VanDyke  finished  his  ministry 
with  this  church;  and  February  24,  1853,  Mr.  William 
E.  Baker,  of  Wilkesbarre,  Pennsylvania,  was  called  by  a 
unanimous  vote.  He  accepted  the  call,  and  was  ordained 
and  installed  May  18,  1853.  The  sermon  was  preached 
by  Rev.  Mr.  Graham,  of  Woodbury.  Charge  to  pastor, 
b}^  Rev.  George  Janvier,  of  Daretown.  Charge  to  people, 
by  Rev.  Daniel  Stratton,  of  Salem. 

During  his  pastorate,  his  uncle,  Dr.  Daniel  Baker, 
began  revival  meetings  with  much  success,  resulting  in 
more  than  eighty  conversions;  though  not  half  of  them 
united  with  the  Second  Church;  the  rest  uniting  with 
other  churches  in  the  town. 

Mr.  Baker's  short  ministry  left  an  indelible  impress 
for  good.  He  was  most  heartily  beloved,  and  under  him 
the  church  began  to  look  toward  the  future  with  greater 
hope  than  ever  before. 

Mr.  Baker  is  residing  at  present  in  Roswell,  Georgia, 


73 

after  serving  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Staunton, 
Virginia,  for  twenty-five  years. 

July  8,  1856,  Rev.  P.  B.  Heroy  was  called.  He 
accepted,  but  remained  with  the  church  less  than  a  year. 
The  pulpit  being  declared  vacant  by  the  Presbytery  May 
10,  1857. 

Mr.  Heroy  is  no  longer  in  the  Church  militant  on  earth, 
having  some  years  ago  passed  to  his  rest. 

The  next  month,  June  third.  Rev.  Joseph  Hubbard 
was  called,  and  was  installed  August  fifth.  Rev.  Daniel 
Stratton  preached  the  sermon.  The  charge  to  the  pastor 
was  given  by  Rev.  Thos.  W.  Cattell.  Charge  to  the 
people  by  Rev.  S.  J.  Baird,  wdiile  Rev.  S.  K.  Kollock, 
presided. 

May  30,  1858,  Jesse  D.  Claypole  was  elected  Elder, 
and  so  ssrved  the  church  until  his  dismission  to  the  Arch 
Street  Church,  Philadelphia,  in  1863.  He  afterward 
took  an  active  interest  in  the  organization  of  the  West 
Presbyterian  Church  of  this  cit)^  and  was  an  Polder  of  it 
until  his  death. 

May  27,  i860,  Lewis  McBride,  Joel  Fithian  and 
Samuel  Applegit  were  elected  Elders.  Of  these  Mr. 
Applegit  resigned  March  18,  1885,  and  both  he  and  Mr. 
McBride  have  passed  away. 

During  Mr.  Hubbard's  pastorate  and  by  his  efforts  the 
present  parsonage  was  bought  at  an  expense  of  about 
$4,000. 

Mr.  Hubbard  resigned  to  Presbyter}^  April  19,  1S65, 
in  order  to  take  charge  of  the  church  at  Cape  May. 
From  there  he  went  to  Dayton,  New  Jersey,  and  is  now 
pastor  at  Mechanicsville,  Iowa. 

Mr.  Heber  H.  Beadle,  the  present  pastor  of  the  church, 
was  ordained  and  installed  June  20,    1866.     Rev.   Clias. 


74 
Wood,  moderated  the  service.  Rev.  Charles  McMullen 
preached  the  sermon.  Rev.  Edward  P.  Shields,  gave 
the  charge  to  the  people,  and  Rev.  Elias  R.  Beadle,  D. 
D.  IvE.  D.,  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Phila- 
delphia gave  the  charge  to  the  pastor,  his  son. 

Mr.  Beadle  was  the  son  of  a  missionary,  and  born  in 
Smyrna,  Asia  Minor.  He  graduated  at  Yale  University 
n  the  class  of  1862,  went  to  Geneva,  studied  under  Dr. 
Merele  D'Aubigue,  for  two  years;  then  to  the  College  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Hdinburg,  where  he  received  his 
license  to  preach. 

The  work  was  begun  by  him  under  many  discourage- 
ments, but  matters  brightened  with  the  years,  and  the 
little  edifice  for  the  first  time  began  to  be  too  small,  and 
it  was  found  necessary  to  enlarge  in  order  to  accommo- 
date the  growth. 

In  the  winter  of  68-6g,  $8,000  were  expended  in  the 
enlargement  of  the  building.  The  outside  stairway  at 
the  entrance,  very  awkward  and  exposed  to  all  the 
rains,  was  taken  down  and  a  new  and  much  more  con- 
venient and  sighth^  entrance  was  built  in  its  place.  A 
new  door  was  cut  into  the  Sabbath  School  room,  and  the 
old  doors  closed.  The  church  was  lengthened  out  in  the 
rear.  The  choir  was  placed  on  an  elevated  platform 
behind  the  pulpit  and  an  Estey  pedel  organ  was  used  to 
lead  the  voices  in  place  of  the  old  melodeon.  The 
original  instrument  is  still  doing  most  beautiful  service  in 
one  of  our  homes,  training  the  children's  voices  for 
church  work. 

The  first  service  in  the  enlarged  building  was  on  May 
2,  1869,  and  was  both  a  Thanksgiving  and  a  Communion 
service,  entered  into  with  hearts  full  of  praise.  Thirty- 
three  united  with  the  church  that  morning  on  confession 


75 
of  their  faith  and  seven  by  letter.  On  March  2,  1878, 
thirtj-'Seven  united  on  confession  of  faith  and  seven  by 
letter.  Again  on  March  4,  1883,  thirty-five  confessed 
their  faith  in  Christ  and  five  brought  letters  from  other 
churches.  On  March  2,  1888,  thirty-six  united  with  the 
church  on  confession  of  faith,  and  the  next  year  seventy- 
eight,  the  largest  number  in  the  history  of  the  church. 
These  additions  with  the  usual  additions  at  intervening 
Communion  seasons,  soon  filled  the  enlarged  building 
and  again  the  church  was  troubled  for  room.  The  best 
that  could  be  done  for  the  time,  was  done.  The  gallery 
was  cushioned,  and  $5,000  was  expended  in  that  and 
other  improvements,  (in  1883.)  The  church  was 
painted  and  frescoed,  a  pipe  organ  with  water  motor  was 
built  in  at  an  expense  of  $2,700.  ($500  more  were  ex- 
pended on  this  organ  in  1892,  in  adding  new  pipes.) 

On  the  30th  of  October  1885,  Thos.  U.  Harris  and 
Benjamin  F.  Harding  were  elected  Elders;  and  in  Sep- 
tember 1 89 1,  Judge  Alphonso  Woodruff,  for  nearly  forty 
years  Elder  of  the  church,  was  taken  away  by  death  at 
the  age  of  eighty-two  years. 

In  the  winter  of  1891,  the  lecture  room  was  re-seated 
and  the  old  benches  which  had  held  their  place  in  all 
their  sturdy  strength  and  ungainliness,  were  banished  to 
make  room  for  something  more  modern  and  comfortable. 

In  the  report  to  the  General  Assembly  for  1891,  there 
were  464  members  of  the  Church;  373  in  the  Sunday 
Schools,  and  $1,314  were  given  for  benevolent  purposes. 

Here  ends  the  story  of  the  Second  Church  for  the 
present.  It  now  is  growing  quietly  and  steadily.  There 
is  the  u.sual  narrative  of  additions,  and  dismissals  to 
other  churches  on  earth  and  to  the  great  church  in  the 
New  Jerusalem  above. 


76 

There  are  the  usual  sorrows  and  songs  that  come  to 
ever}-  church  life,  the  usual  efforts  and  partial  success  or 
failure.  There  are  above  all,  the  boundless  blessings 
that  have  come  from  a  Heavenly  Father's  bounty,  which 
have  been  continued  from  year  to  year,  and  have  made 
us  always  glad;  and  for  these  we  give  hearty  thanks  and 
pray  for  a  long  continuance. 


77 

History    of  tlie  First  Church,   from   the    Pfas- 

torate   of  Rev.  C.  R.  Gregory,  D.  D.,  to 

the  Present  Time,  by  Rev. 

Sylvester   \V.    Beach. 

This  paper  will  not  occupy  much  time.  It  deals 
largely  with  the  recent  past,  and  the  facts  are  familiar  to 
us  all.  The  period  is  a  short  one,  covering  mainly  but 
three  pastorates  of  less  than  a  quarter  century  in  extent. 

An  earnest  and  most  worthy  Methodist  lately  declared 
to  the  writer,  that  the  proposed  extension  of  the  pastoral 
tenure  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  would   never 
be  popular  or  practicable  among  the  people  of  that  de- 
nomination.    The  system  of  itineracy,  he  said,  had  the 
obvious  advantage  of  giving  a  rapid  succession  of  pastor 
ates,    an  advantage  due  to  the  fact  that  each  minister 
has  gifts  and  graces  peculiar  to  himself,  while  none  com- 
bines perfect  excellence  of  all  kinds.     One  is  a  good  pastor, 
another  is  a  good  preacher;  one  reaches  the  cultured,  an- 
other the  common  classes;  one  buildsup  the  finances,  an- 
other the  spirituality  of  the  church.     Any  one  man  must 
bring  forth  an  imperfect  product.   All  together  may  reach 
a  composite  result  approximating  the  ideal.     Thus  one 
pastor  complements  another  till  all  sides  of  the  walls  of 
Zion  are  established.     Methodists,  he  declared,  want  com- 
posite pastors,  and  these  can  be  had  only  in  many  pastors. 
Without  entering  into  the  merits  of  this  growing  question 
now  agitating  a  sister  denomination,  we  may  confidently 
say  that  the  First  church,  Bridgeton,  has  been  ser\'ed  by  a 
a  succession  of  pastors  who  have  strikingly  supplemented 
each  other  in  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  pastoral  office. 
For  example,  Dr.  Casper  R.  Gregory,  called  to  follow  that 
Nestor  of  Bridgeton  Presbyterianism,  Dr.  Samuel  Beach 
Jones,  proved  the  latter' s  fitting  counterpart.     Dr.  Jones 


78 

was  distinguished  for  his  dignity,   Dr.   Gregorj'  for  his 
approachableness;  Dr.  Jones  for  his  orator^^  Dr.  Gregory 
for  his  colloquialism;  Dr.  Jones    for  his    indoctrination, 
Dr.  Gregory,  for  his  persuasion;  Dr.  Jones,  for  his  diplo- 
macy. Dr.  Gregory,  for  his  naivete.     It  was  a  hard  task 
to    follow  Dr.  Jones,    "for  what   can    the   man    do  that 
conieth  after  the  King?"     But  Dr.    Gregor>' was  adapted 
for  that  particular  work,   so  far  as  any  man  could    have 
been.     He   became   pastor  May    12,     1S64.     He  was  a 
native  of  Philadelphia,    educated    at    the    University    of 
Pennsylvania    and    Princeton    Seminary.      He   was  jus^ 
forty  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  Bridgeton;  but  he 
was  already  a  man  of  much  experience,  first  as  teacher, 
then  as  foreign  missionary  among  the  Choctaw  Indians, 
later  on  pastor  for  ten  years  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
at  Oneida,  N.  Y.      His  pastorate  here  continued  for  over 
nine  years.        His    ministry    w^as    specially    blessed    in 
awakening  the  unconverted.     The  year  after  he  became 
pastor  the  church  received  fifty  additions.     In  the  first  two 
years    the    accessions  reached  one  hundred  and    thirty, 
x\lfred    Holmes,    John    T.   Pierce  and  James  J.   Reeves 
were   installed    elders    during    his  pastorate;  Robert  M. 
Seele}',  Edwin    M.  Ware,    Dr.  William  Elmer,  Jr.,  John 
U.  Laning,  Charles  S.   Fithian  and  Wm.  E.  Potter  were 
elected  trustees.     The  parsonage  was  purchased  for  him 
at  a  cost  of  $5,500.     The  most  important   event  of  Dr. 
Gregory's  pastorate  was  the   organization  of  the  West 
Church  in  1869.    The  First  Church  congregation  being  so 
increased  that  there  was  no  longer  room  for  growth,  and 
the  interests  of  Presbyterianism  seeming   to  demand  a 
church  upon  the  west  side  of  the  Cohansey,  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  members  of  the  First  Church  took  letters  of 
dismission,  March  15,  1869,  and   on  the  next  day,  they. 


79 
together  with  four  members   from  the  Second  Church, 
were  organized  into  the  West  Presbyterian  church. 

In  1873,  through  the  persistent  efforts  of  Dr.  Gregory, 
who  was  a  devoted  lover  of  music,  a  grand  Hook  & 
Hastings  organ  was  bought  for  the  First  Church  at  a 
cost  of  $3,500.  The  First  Church  choir  long  before, 
under  the  leadership  first  of  Joseph  Reeves,  and  then  of 
Robert  DuBois,  had  obtained  an  enviable  reputation,  and 
was  now  well  equipped  for  the  fine  work  that  it  has  con- 
tinued until  the  present  to  perform  under  the  able  lead- 
ership of  Thomas  R.  Janvier.  In  1873  Dr.  Gregory  was 
called  to  Lincoln  University-,  to  fill  the  chair  of  Sacred 
Rhetoric.  There  he  labored  zealously  and  most  success- 
fully until  his  death,  which  occurred  Februar}^  26th, 
1882.  His  end  was  lull  of  faith  and  hope.  His  body 
lies  here  in  the  Pastor's  lot  beside  three  other  pastors 
who  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  same  beloved  church. 

After  Dr.  Gregory- 's  resignation  an  interim  of  exactly 
seven  months  followed.  The  Rev.  J.  Allen  Maxwell,  D. 
D.,  was  installed  May  7,  1874. 

Two  pastoral  terms  preceded  that  of  Bridgeton  in  hi>^ 
ministr}-.  The  first  was  in  South  Orange,  N.  J.,  which 
continued  for  ten  years;  the  other  at  Hazelton,  Pa.  His 
birthplace  was  New  York  City,  December  29th,  1833. 
He  graduated  at  the  University  of  New  York  and  Union 
Theological  Seminary. 

Dr.  Maxwell  is  well  remembered  by  nearh*  all  who  are 
now  before  me.  He  was  a  minister  of  the  Word,  of 
singular  gifts.  His  sermons  were  laboriously  wrought 
out,  and  delivered  with  an  unaffected  simplicity  that 
gave  the  impression  of  great  reserved  powers;  and  yet  he 
did  not  lack  an  unction  indicated  in  voice  and  manner. 
He  was  a  scholar  of  no  mean  attainments,  and  had  found 


8o 

an  opportunity  to  go  afield  in  his  reading  and  research 
beyond  what  is  possible  to  most  busy  pastors.  While 
not  compromising  the  dignity  of  his  ministerial  office,  he 
closely  identified  himself  with  the  public  interests  of  the 
community,  and  was  zealous  in  promoting  every  move- 
ment of  municipal  and  moral  reform.  His  talents  were 
not  unfrequently  employed  in  the  preparation  and 
delivery  of  public  lectures,  and  in  writing  for  the  local 
and  religious  press.  In  a  word,  he  was  indefatigable  in 
his  labors,  and  most  versatile  in  his  gifts  and  accomplish- 
ments. Above  all,  his  gentle  and  sweet  disposition,  and 
his  pure  heart  filled  with  the  spirit  of  God,  are  remem- 
bered. 

During  Dr.  Maxwell's  pastorate,  the  church  was  re- 
furnished and  beautified  at  a  cost  of  nearly  $3,000;  the 
parsonage  was  also  greatly  improved. 

W.  Harrison  Woodruff  was  elected  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees.  Isaac  leaning,  Edgar  J.  Riley  and  Theophilus 
Trenchard  were  installed  as  Elders. 

From  Bridgeton,  Dr.  Maxwell  removed  to  Titusville, 
Pennsylvania,  February,  188 1.  After  a  happy  pa.storate 
there  of  six  years,  he  was  called  to  Danbury,  Connecticut, 
where  he  was  a  greatly  beloved  pastor,  when  summoned 
by  the  Angel  of  Death,  on  Thanksgiving  morning,  1890. 

The  Rev.  Augustus  Brodhead,  D.  D.,  who  took  up  the 
work  which  Dr.  Maxwell's  hands  dropped,  only  three 
months  after  the  latter' s  removal,  was  the  son  of  Hon.  H. 
and  Eliza  Ross  Brodhead,  of  Milford,  Pennsylvania.  He 
was  born  Maj^  13,  1831.  His  collegiate  course  was  pur- 
sued at  Union  College,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. ,  and  he  studied 
Theology  at  Princeton.  He  was  ordained  as  an  evange- 
list for  foreign  mission  work  by  the  Presbytery  of  Hud.son, 
May  4,  1858.     He  sailed  for  India  that  fall.     At  Mynpu- 


rie  and  Fatehgarh  thirteen  years  were  spent  in  preach- 
ing, teaching,  ministering  to  the  native  churches,  and 
organizing  evangelistic  efforts.  He  was  then  transferred 
to  Allabahad,  where  he  took  up  the  laborious  work  of 
teaching  theology,  writing  text  books  on  Church  History- 
and  other  subjects.  At  length  a  succession  of  severe 
attacks  of  illness  mide  it  evident  to  his  medical  advisers 
and  the  members  of  the  mission,  that  his  constitution 
would  not  much  longer  be  able  to  bear  the  strain  of  the 
Indian  climate.  Very  reluctant!}^  he  yielded  to  the 
necessity,  and  in  1878  resigned  the  service  of  the  mission 
and  returned  to  America,  where  after  several  temporary 
engagements,  he  accepted  a  call  to  Bridgeton,  as  we  have 
said,  just  three  months  after  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Max- 
well. 

As  a  linguist,  oriental  scholar,  missionar^^  pastor  and 
typical  Christian  man.  Dr.  Brodhead  wielded  a  great  in- 
fluence wherever  his  name  was  known.  He  was  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  member  for  this  Presbyter}^  of  that  most 
important  of  Synod's  enterprises,  the  Sy nodical  Home 
Missions;  and  his  journeys  to  their  distant  meetings  while 
in  rapidly  failing  health,  bore  witness  to  the  fervency  of 
his  love  for  the  church  at  home,  as  he  had  given  the  best 
of  his  life  to  the  church  in  India.  Citj-  Missions  in 
Bridgeton  also  knew  him  for  a  true  helper.  Almost  the 
last  public  act  of  his  life,  when  he  was  too  ill  to  walk  to 
and  from  the  place  of  meeting,  was  to  assist  at  the  dedi- 
cation of  the  new  East  Side  Chapel.  His  last  com- 
munion with  the  church  was  in  March,  1887.  Soon  after 
he  was  obliged  to  let  go  his  work,  hoping  to  gain  relief 
and  rest  at  Clifton  Springs.  Finding  no  help  there,  he 
went  to  Toronto,  hoping  a  more  northern  atmosphere 
might  mitigate  his  sufferings.     But  his  work  was  over; 


82 

for  "after  some  weeks  of  patient  3^et  hopeful  suffering, 
with  a  clear  trust  in  God  and  a  hearty  resignation  to  His 
will,  he  slept  through  the  night  and  awoke  in  Heaven." 
The  date  of  his  death  was  August  29th,  and  his  body 
being  removed  to  Bridgeton,  his  funeral  took  place  in 
the  First  Church,  September  2nd. 

It  was  during  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Brodhead  that  our 
present  handsome  chapel  was  built  at  a  cost  of  $9,000. 
The  corner  stone  was  laid  by  Dr.  Brodhead,  August  8, 
1883,  and  the  building  was  completed  in  March,  1884. 
The  committee  in  charge  of  the  work  were:  R.  M.  Seeley, 
C.  E.  Mulford,  C.  R.  Corey,  Theodore  E.  Edwards  and 
P.  K.  Reeves. 

During  this  pastorate  there  was  only  one  change  in  the 
Board  of  Trustees.  Mr.  Francis  B.  Minch,  the  present 
President  and  Treasurer,  being  elected  in  place  of  Jona- 
than Elmer,  resigned 

The  present  pastor  was  installed  December  19,  1S87. 
Since  that  time  Howard  W.  Fithian  and  Charles  F.  Dare 
have  been  elected  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  P.  Ken- 
nedy Reeves  and  J.  Ogden  Burt  ordained  and  installed 
as  Elders.  The  debt  on  the  chapel  has  been  entirely' 
paid  and  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  members  have 
been  added  to  the  church. 


83 

History  of  the  West  Church  by  ReV.  William 
J.  Bridges. 

The   West    Church,    the    third    of    the    Presbyterian 
Churches  of  Bridgeton,  feels  an  intense  affection  for  the 
old  Broad  street  Church,   and  naturally  enough,   for  it 
was  its  grandmother.     We  reckon  three  generations  to 
the  century,  then,  the  mother  church,   was  the  one  wor- 
shipping here,  from  1792  to  1825  or  30,  the  daughter  the 
First  Church,  as  located  on  Laurel  street,  and  the  grand- 
daughter   the    West    Church,     born    in    March     1868. 
Of  course,  there  will  be  those  who  will  say,  nay,  verily! 
but  the  West  is  the  daughter,  the  old  church  has  never 
had  but  one  set  of  children,  and  they  were  the  Second  and 
the  West.     But  we  make  the  assertion,  by  way  of  con- 
cession to  the  First  Church,    none  of  whose  members, 
and   certainly  none  of  whose  lady  members,  wish  to  be 
written   down  to-day,   as  in  the   shadow  of  a  hundred 
years  of  age.     We  think  it  better  to  look  upon  the  First 
Church  as  a    matron  in  middle  life,  walking  by  the  side 
of  this  fair  daughter  of  twenty-two.    You  can't  call  a  girl 
of  that  age  old;  we  don't  want  to  call  any  one  who  poses 
as  her  mother  old,  and  the  grandmother  idea  seems  to  be 
.suggestive  of  peace  all  around. 

It  is  only  history  repeating  itself,  domestic  history  we 
mean;  to  say  the  child  was  born  at  grandmother's  house, 
for  the  West  Church  first  saw  the  light  in  this  venerable 
building.  Here  in  March,  1868,  the  first  congregational 
meeting  was  held,  looking  toward  its  establishment.  A 
Building  Committee  was  appointed,  consisting  of  Messrs. 
Jesse  D.  Claypoole,  Dr.  John  B.  Bowen,  Wm.  G.  Nixon, 
James  J.  Reeves,  David  P.  Elmer,  Uriah  D.  Woodruff, 
Dr.  William  Elmer,  Jr.,  and  Edwin  M.  Ware,  good  men 
these,    who  builded  better  than  they  knew.     In  April, 


84 

1868,  the  West  Church  Sabbath  School  began  in  this 
building,  and  continued  here,  until  its  own  chapel  was 
ready  for  use.  Here  is  an  illustration  for  our  Irving 
avenue  brethren,  of  a  Sabbath  School  preceding  a  church. 

The  masonr>'  work  on  the  chapel,  began  on  the  nth  of 
August,  1868.  In  February,  1869,  there  was  a  move- 
ment to\Yards  the  organization  of  a  church.  In  March 
of  the  same  year,  the  church  was  organized  by  Presby- 
tery with  a  membership  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen, 
one  hundred  and  thirteen  of  whom  came  from  the  First 
Church,  and  four  from  the  Second.  It  is  comparatively 
easy  to  understand  how  the  First  Church  in  the  large- 
ness of  its  heart,  was  ready  to  give  the  one  hundred  and 
thirteen,  but  how  any  one  ever  got  away  those  four 
members  from  Brother  Beadle,  no  history  explains,  and 
he  himself,  seems  to  have  gone  away  from  us  to-day,  on 
purpose  that  he  might  avoid  explaining. 

On  March  16,  1869,  the  first  Session  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Jesse  D.  Claypoole,  A.  Smith  Woodruff,  and  Dr. 
William  Elmer,  Jr.,  having  been  elected,  was  duly 
ordained  and  installed.  One  of  these,  Mr.  A.  Smith 
Woodruff  is  j^et  in  office,  and  attentive  to  his  duties. 
They  were  all  good  workers,  and  their  work  abides. 

Church  and  Sabbath  School  services,  were  held  by  the 
West  Chureh  congregation,  in  this  building,  and  Friday 
night  Prayer  Meeting  in  Sheppard's  Hall,  until  the 
chapel  was  opened  and  dedicated. 

The  dedication  occurred  on  Sabbath  July  4th,  1869,  and 
this  patriotic  date,  with  its  direct  reference  to  countr}^, 
prompts  us  to  stop  for  a  moment,  and  recall  some  of 
those  things  which  our  progenitors  had  to  think  about 
on  week  days,  as  the  work  of  the  church  went  on,  and 
which  it  may  be,  if  the  sermon  was  not  lively,  they 
thought  about  on  Svmday. 


85 

From  the  inception  of  the  church  unto  the  dedication, 
Vice-President  Andrew  Johnson  who  had  become  Presi- 
dent, through  the  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincohi,  was 
filling  that  oiftce,  for  his  last  year  ending  March  4th,  i86g. 
In  the  month  of  March,  1868,  when  the  church  was  first 
thought  of,  President  Johnson  was  impeached  by  the 
House  of  Representatives,  for  high  crimes  and  misde- 
meanors, because  of  a  controversy  which  arose  between 
him  and  Congress,  respecting  the  terms  on  which  the 
late  Confederate  States  should  be  reconstructed  or 
restored  to  their  original  relations  to  the  Federal  Union. 
He  was  acquitted  in  May. 

On  the  25th  of  December  1869,  at  the  time  when  the 
first  festival  was  held  in  the  West  Chapel,  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  issued  a  proclamation  of  general 
amnesty,  announcing  that  the  authority  of  the  Federal 
government  had  been  re-established  in  all  the  seceding 
States,  and  granting  pardon  to  all  who  had  taken  part  in 
the  so-called  rebellion.  On  the  4th  of  March,  i86g,  or 
four  months  previous  to  the  dedication  of  the  chapel, 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  and  Schuyler  Colfax  were  inaugurated 
President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

So  you  see  our  fathers  and  brethren  had  much  to  think 
of  during  the  week  as  well  as  on  Sunday.  Moreover  the 
years  of  the  beginning  of  the  West  Church,  were  the 
3^ears  just  following  the  war,  and  when  one  remembers 
the  bitter  animosities,  the  sufferings  and  losses  it  entailed, 
it  always  seems  to  us  .a  happy  coincidence,  that  this 
dale,  Jul}^  4th,  1869,  God's  day  and  our  country's  natal 
day,  were  thus  blended  with  the  day  of  occupation  and 
of  dedication  of  our  church  to  invite  us  from  war's  alarms 
to  "The  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God,"  to 
point  to  a  yet  better  country  than  America,  to  place  the 


emblem  of  the  cross  above  that  of  the  stars  and  stripes,  and 
to  win  us  to  grander  liberty  than  American  citizens  as 
such  enjoy,  even  to  be  free  in  Christ. 

The  corner  stone  of  the  larger  church  building  was 
laid  Saturday  July  3rd,  1869,  the  day  before  the  dedication 
of  the  chapel.  It  was  a  hot  afternoon,  yet  a  good 
number  of  persons  assembled  at  the  south-east  corner  of 
the  church  building;  they  stood  under  the  maple  trees, 
umbrellas  in  hand.  The  ministers  sat  upon  an  impro- 
vised platform,  over  which  was  placed  as  an  awning,  the 
national  standard.  The  ministers  in  all  ages  of  the  world 
seem  to  have  matters  very  lovely;  seats  are  often  found 
for  them  while  the  laymen  must  stand,  and  this  has 
sometimes  provoked  the  evilly  disposed  among  the 
brethren  to  sit  on  the  ministry.  The  Revs  Messrs. 
McNeil,  Beadle,  Jones,  Stratton,  Gregory,  Harris,  Moffitt 
and  Heydenreich,  were  among  those  present.  The  exer- 
cises commenced  with  an  appropriate  prayer  by  Mr. 
Beadle,  after  which  Mr.  McNeil  read  the  hymn  of  dedi- 
cation which  had  been  composed  for  the  occasion,  and 
which  was  sung  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Robert 
Young.  Rev.  C.  R.  Gregory  read  a  selected  chapter 
from  the  Scriptures;  and  then  Dr.  Wm.  Elmer,  Jr.,  gave 
a  history  of  the  church  from  the  beginning.  Nearly  all 
that  has  been  said  in  this  sketch  to-day,  all  that  was 
good,  came  from  this  address.  Then  Mr.  Franklin  F. 
Westcott  spoke  of  the  religious  and  political  connections 
of  the  day,  said  that  a  town  without  a  church  would  be 
a  town  filled  with  evil;  said,  and  it  was  well  said  too, 
t  lat  the  chief  business  of  the  church  was  not  to  teach 
men  how  to  die,  but  how  to  live.  The  destiny  of  the 
country  is  bound  up  with  that  of  the  church,  the  wounds 
that  hurt  the  church  make  the  State  bleed  as  well.    Then 


87 
Rev.  Mr.  Gregory'  deposited  in  the  cornerstone  a  num- 
ber of  articles  which  are  specified  in  the  record,  and  the 
stone  was  fixed  in  place.  Rev.  Dr.  Moffitt  then  spoke, 
"What  was  meant  by  these  ceremonies,"  he  said,  "was 
not  the  consecration  of  a  spot  of  earth,  to  make  t  holier 
than  before,  or  fit  for  God  to  dwell  in,  but  that  it  was 
simply  their  purpose  that  that  house  should  be  set  apart 
for  his  worship;  and  as  Christ  had  said,  that  'where  two 
or  three  are  gathered  together,  there  he  is,'  so  they  con- 
fidently believed,  that  those  who  should  hereafter 
worship  there  would  enjoy  that  blessing,  not  because  of 
their  act,  but  because  of  God's  promise."  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Harris  then  prayed,  and  the  Rev  Wallace  Stratton  pro- 
nounced the  benediction. 

For  seven  years  after  the  dedication  of  the  chapel,  the 
church  building  was  enclosed,  and  ready  for  interior 
finish,  but  not  occupied.  We  suppose  this  was  owing  to 
a  disposition  not  to  incur  debt,  and  happy  is  that  people, 
in  or  out  of  the  church  who  live  by  this  silver  rule.  "Mr. 
Speaker,"  said  the  eccentric  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  "I 
have  discovered  the  philosopher's  stone;  it  consists  of  four 
short  words  of  homely  English,  and  is  'pay  as  you  go.'  " 

The  dedication  services  of  th-  church  took  p'.ace 
Thursday,  April  nth,  1878,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. The  pastor,  Mr.  Coyle,  the  Revs.  Messrs.  Fergu- 
son, Beadle  and  Maxwell  took  part  in  the  other  services, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Colfelt  of  Philadelphia,  preached  the 
sermon.  By  this  dedication,  the  work  was  renewedly 
offered  to  the  Lord,  and  with  enlarged  facilities,  it  was 
taken  up  with  increased  heartiness.  In  the  sweet  May 
morn,  and  the  golden  summer,  mid  the  gleanings  of 
autumn  and  winter's  cold,  Christ  was  set  forth,  not  the 
Christ  of  envy  or  contention,   but  the  Christ  of  love  and 


truth.  The  people  were  responsive,  the  membership 
increased,  and  there  were  added  unto  the  L/ord  as  we 
believe,  those  whom  he  will  count  as  his  own  in  the  daj' 
when  he  shall  make  up  his  jewels. 

The  West  Church  has  had  three  pastors,  the  Rev.  ly. 
E.  Coyle,  Rev.  W.  H.  Belden,  and  the  speaker.  Mr. 
Coyle  was  ordained  and  installed  Thursday  evening, 
April  28,  1870;  he  served  the  church  for  thirteen  years, 
resigning  his  charge,  April  1 8th,  1883.  One  cannot  speak 
as  freel)'  of  the  living  as  these  other  speakers  have  of 
those  out  of  hearing,  but  the  more  we  know  of  Mr. 
Coyle's  work,  and  of  his  character,  the  more  of  an  exalted 
opinion  do  we  have  of  both.  The  congregation  was 
pastorless  for  eight  months,  a  critical  time  to  any  church; 
happy  that  Session  and  congregation  who  can  the 
quickest  secure  a  new  pastor.  The  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Belden 
was  installed  Mondaj'- evening,  February  4th,  1884.  His 
pastorate  extended  over  six  years  and  two  months,  he 
resigning  the  pulpit  April  i,  1890.  A  zealous,  capable, 
true-hearted  missionary  spirit;  one  can  only  understand 
the  trial  that  has  come  to  him,  by  remembering  that 
"whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth." 

Having  thus  disposed  of  his  predecessors,  the  present 
pastor  might  chronologically  speak  of  himself;  this 
modesty  utterly  forbids,  save  to  say,  that  the  beginning 
and  the  end  of  Presbyterianism  in  Bridgeton,  is  confined 
to  his  famil)',  for  not  one  century  ago,  but  two,  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Bridge,  or  Bridges,  settled  in  these  parts  as  a 
Presbyterian  minister.  He  came  with  a  paterrt  or  deed 
for  a  thousand  acres  of  land  about  North  Bridgeton. 
What  any  minister  would  want  with  so  much  Jersey 
land,  we  know  not,  may  be  he  put  the  sand  into  his 
sermons,  and  wh}^  he  came  at  all,   history  does  not   tell 


us.  We  do  not  harbor  the  suspicion  that  King  William 
of  Orange,  would  offer  the  good  man  that  sum  just  to 
be  rid  of  him.  When  we  first  came  to  Bridgeton,  we 
were  of  course,  pleased  to  know  that  one  of  the  family 
had  already  been  here,  and  at  so  early  a  date,  to  look 
after  the  interests  of  Presbyterianism,  and  this  led  us 
ambitiously  to  hope,  that  this  place  had  been  called  after 
him,  or  that  Bridgeton  had  received  its  name  from  the 
Bridges  family;  but  the  Potter  family  who  make  history, 
about  Bridgeton,  have  compelled  us  to  relinquish  this 
pleasing  thought.  We  are  glad,  though,  that  if  they 
would  name  so  pretty  a  town  as  this  after  a  wooden 
bridge,  there  is  no  imputation  that  the  original  Rev. 
Thomas  Bridges,  whom  they  would  not  name  it  after, 
was  a  wooden  man. 

As  to  increase  of  members,   like  its  sister   churches, 
there  have  been  times  of  gain  to  the  West  Church,  times 
when  it  seemed  to  stand  still,  and  times  of  going  back- 
ward; but  throughout  the  years  of  gain,  healthful  gain, 
and  as  the  years  have  gone  on,  nothing  has  been  pleas- 
anter  than  the  admission  of  the  young  from  the  Sabbath 
School,    the    nursery  of  the   church,    into    the  church; 
christians  from  the  Sabbath  School  must  always  be  the 
best.     The  proportion  of  young  people  in  the  church,  is 
more  than  one-third  that  of  the  whole  number,  and  their 
influence  is  felt  in  all  departments  of  church  work.    Par- 
ticularly in  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society,  now  nearly 
four  years  old,   do  the  young  people   find  a  sphere  for 
their  activity.     This  society  does  wonders  for  them;  it 
keeps  them  at  work,  it  leads  them  to  an  active  part  in  the 
public  service,  keeps  them  united.     In  disposing  of  its 
history  in  this  brief  way,  the  pastor  has  nothing  but  good 
to  say  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society. 


90 

The  ladies,  what  would  church  or  pastor  do  without 
them,  have  alwaj's  taken  an  exceedingly  active  part  in 
the  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  work  of  the  church. 
Meetings  for  each  cause  are  held  at  intervals  of  three 
weeks  during  the  year.  Boxes  of  useful  articles  are  con- 
stantly being  sent  to  ministers  who  need.  These  are  far 
more  than  ordinarily  valuable,  and  the  amount  of  money 
raised  by  the  societies  is  unusuall}-  large;  besides  this  the 
members  are  constantly  informing  themselves  of  tlie 
missionary  state  of  the  world,  and  making  the  knowledge 
gained,  the  subject  of  interesting  communication.  Gladly 
are  they  hearing  and  acting  upon  the  Saviour's  last  com- 
mand, "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature. ' ' 

This  church  is  easily  among  the  first  in  the  Presbytery 
in  the  absolute  amount  raised  per  member  for  such  pur- 
poses. It  is  thus  listening  to  the  saying,  "Freely  ye 
have  received,  freely  give." 

As  for  Elders  and  Trustees,  no  pastor  ever  had  better. 

From  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  real  history  of  a 
church  cannot  be  written  on  earth  but  will  be  in  the 
skies;  it  must  be  assigned  to  eternity,  rather  than  to  time; 
here  matters  are  mutable,  there  fixed;  here  thej^  must  be 
attempted  by  those,  who,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  cannot 
know  all  the  facts,  but  in  the  coming  clearer  light  we 
shall  see  as  we  are  seen,  and  know  as  we  are  known.  If 
it  should  appear,  at  that  time,  that  this  church  displayed 
anything  of  love  for  the  Master,  what  joy !  If  any  prayer 
there  put  up  led  any  one  to  say,  "I  must  have  this 
pardon  or  I  die,"  how  hearts  will  thrill!  If  the  kindly 
word  of  invitation  arrested  any  wandering  footstep, 
blissful  day.  But  if  these  pastors  meet  there  any  con- 
siderable number  of  those  unto  whom  they  have  spoken, 


91 
surely  to  each  of  them  their  heaven  will  be  three  heavens, 
in  the  land  of  the  King. 

And  that  God,  who  satisfies  with  food  the  appetite  of 
the  hungry,  and  who  makes  us  to  love,  and  who  finds  for 
us  a  mate,  has  not  bidden  the  pastor's  heart  to  long  for 
souls  in  vain.  The  time  may  seem  long,  the  work  dull, 
the  response  trifling,  but  in  countless  ways  we  think  not 
of,  the  seed  sown  will  be  upspringing,  the  sunshine  of 
God  will  invigorate,  the  dew  of  his  grace  bless.  And 
this  will  be,  not  because  of  our  faithfulness,  but  because 
of  the  faithfulness  of  God. 

And  even  about  us,  we  have  the  earnest  of  this.  Here 
sleep  those,  who  worshipped  with  us,  who  mingled  their 
prayers  with  ours.  They  witnessed  a  good  profession, 
and  in  the  last  and  crucial  hour  of  their  lives,  they  did 
not  give  up  their  Christ,  but  clung  to  him  to  the  end. 
These  said,  that  the  Gospel  which  they  heard  proclaimed 
was  a  perfect  one;  they  might  have  heard  the  Gospel 
better  preached  elsewhere,  but  they  did  not  hear  a  better 
Gospel.  These  said,  that  Jesus  was  as  ready  to  save 
here,  as  elsewhere,  the  Holy  Spirit  as  ready  to  bless. 

May  men  everywhere  believe  in  the  need  of  the  great 
salvation,  and  in  the  efficiency  of  the  church  as  blessed 
of  Him,  to  lead  thereto,  and  when  the  history  of  this 
church  is  finally  written,  may  it  prove  to  have  been 
useful. 


92 

History  of  the  West  Jersey  Academy,  by 

Prof.  Phoebus  W.  I^yon. 

The  ancient  Greeks  represent  \"enus  as  rising  from  the 
sea  a  full-grown,  perfect  woman,  ready  to  enter  upon  the 
work  of  life;  they  fancy  Minerva  as  springing,  full-armed, 
from  the  brain  of  Jove,  and  in  her  suddenl}-  acquired 
m  turit}'  ready  to  direct  in  counsel  or  in  w^ar;  thej'  tell 
us  that  Cadmus  sowed  the  dragon's  teeth,  and  forth  with 
sprung  up  panoplied  soldiers,  ready  to  fight.  But  God 
has  not  so  made  the  world.  That  which  is  good  has 
come  through  growth,  and  growth  is  gradual.  First  the 
blade,  then  the  ear  and  after  that  the  full-corn  in  the  ear. 
Throes  and  anguish  precede  birth,  and  the  birth  is  of  a 
child,  helpless  in  itself  and  needful  of  care,  and  nursing 
and  direction,  and  making  heavy  and  constant  demands 
on  the  time  and  the  toil,  the  patience  and  the  pocket  o^ 
those  interested  in  its  welfare,  through  years  of  childhood 
and  of  vouth,  ere  its  maturity  shall  come  and  it  is  able 
to  stand  alone. 

Such  is  the  history  of  all  enterprises  in  this  world, 
such,  as  we  have   heard  to-day,  has  been  the  historj^  of 
thsse  Presbyterian    churches   of    Bridgeton,  and    such, 
through  four  decades,  has  been  the  history  of  the  West 
Jersey  Academy. 

The  Presbyterians,  the  Congregationalists  and  the 
Quakers,  who  were  the  first  English  speaking  settlers  in 
The  Jerseys,  began  their  schools  when  they  began  their 
churches. 

In  1676  it  is  at  a  Jersey  town-meeting  that  it  was 
resolved  that: 

"The  town  doth  consent  that  the  town's  men  should  perfect  the 
"bargain  with  the  schoolmaster  for  this  year  upon  condition  that 
"he  will  come  and  do  his  faithful    honest  and  true   endeavor  to 


1^ 


.^ 


.l 


93 

"teach  the  chihlreti  or  servants  of  those  who  have  subscribed,  the 
"readhigand  writing  of  English,  and  also  of  arithmetic  if  they 
"desire  it,  as  much  as  they  are  capable  to  learn  and  he  capable  to 
"teach  them  within  the  compass  of  this  year,  nowise  hindering  but 
"that  he  may  make  what  bargain  he  please  with  those  as  have  not 
"subscribed." 

And  a  few  years  later  the  town  meeting  recordb  say 

(Sept.  28th,  1714-) 

"Ordered  by  vote  that  ye  old  floor  in  ye  meeting-house  should 
be  made  use  of  for  ye  making  a  floor  in  ye  school  house  in  ye 
middle  of  ye  town." 

It  was  in  keeping  with  these  precedents  and  of  the 
constant  interest  in  the  education  of  her  children  shown 
by  the  church  from  that  early  day  to  our  own,  that  Dr. 
SamuelBeachJoneson  the  i6th  of  April,  1850,  presented 
to  the  West  Jersey   Presbytery  a  paper  looking  to  the 
establishment  of  a  high  grade  Academy  within  its  bounds 
and  to  be  permanently  under  its  fostering  care  and  super- 
vision.    This  paper  was  a  very  able  and  convincing  one, 
and  the  Presbytery  in  a  series  of  resolutions  adopted  its 
recommendations  and  elected  the  first  Board  of  Trustees. 
This  Board   consisted   of:     Rev.    Dr.    S.    Beach   Jones, 
David    P.    Elmer,    Dr.    Enoch    Fithian,   Calvin  Belden, 
Henr>'  B.  Lupton,  Moses  Richman,  Jr.,  John  T.  Nixon, 
Dr.    Jacob    W.    Ludlam,     Charles    E.     Elmer,     Enoch 
Edmonds,  William  G.  Nixon,  Geo.  S.  Woodhull,  Dr.  J. 
Barron    Potter,    Dr.   R..    Rush  Bateman,    Dr.    Ephraim 
Buck,  Dr.  Wm.   B.  Ewing,    Lewis  McBride,  Eewis  Mul- 
ford.  Dr.  William  Elmer,  Dr.  Joseph  Fithian. 

On  the  nth  of  the  following  July,  (1850)  this  Board  of 
Trustees  met  in  the  Presbyterian  Session  House  in  this 
city  and  after  much  deliberation,  not  forgetting  prayer 
for  divine  guidance  and  blessing,  issued  a  circular  and 
subscription  blank,  a  copy  of  which  is  hereto  appended. 


94 

Circular  From  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board  of 

THE  Presbyterian  Academy  of  West  Jersey. 

Action  of  the  Presbytery .  At  the  last  stated  meeting  of  the 
Presbytery  of  West  Jersey,  it  was  determined  by  that  body  to 
establish  a  classical  and  scientific  Academy  of  a  high  order,  and  to 
locate  it  in  Bridgeton.  The  unanimity  with  which  both  of  these 
decisions  were  made,  indicated  the  pervading  sense  of  the  import- 
ance of  such  an  institution,  and  the  eligibility  of  the  place  selected 
as  its  site. 

Reasons  for  this  action.  Within  the  six  counties  over  which  the 
Presbytery  is  spread,  there  now  exists  no  Academy  of  the  grade 
an  A  character  wliich  we  need.  Most  of  our  youth,  who  seek  a 
liljeral  education,  are  compelled  to  prosecute  their  more  advanced 
studies  out  of  our  bounds  and  remote  fiom  our  supervision;  some 
who  desire  such  an  education  are  compelled  to  forego  it.  because 
of  the  expense  attendant  on  its  prosecution  at  a  distance  The 
academies  occasionally  established  bj'  private  enterprise  have 
always  proved  short  lived;  and  thus  the  steady  advance  of  educa- 
tion in  its  higher  departments  is  impeded. 

Advantages  of  such  an  Institution. — An  Academy  under  the 
supervision  and  the  control  of  the  Presb5'tery  will  be  likely  to 
prove  as  permanent  as  the  body  which  founds  it.  It  promises  to 
give  to  religious  culture  the  place  which  it  properly  claims  in 
everv  stage  of  education.  It  will  educate  our  youth  near  their 
homes;  and  its  very  proximity  to  most  of  our  congregations  and 
neighborhoods  will  induce  a  larger  number  of  West  Jerseymen  to 
seek  a  liberal  education;  aud  thus  serve  to  raise  West  Jersey  to 
something  like  an  equality  with  other  portions  of  our  State  and 
country.  It  places  both  teachers  and  the  course  of  study  pursued 
under  the  .supervision  of  educated  and  responsible  men  It  fur- 
nishes a  reasonable  prospect  of  greater  facilities  for  the  acquisition 
of  the  higher  branches  of  academical  education,  than  we  can  well 
expect  elsewhere;  inasmuch  as  the  more  extensive  patronage 
attorded  by  our  own  and  other  regions  will  enable  us  to  employ 
teachers  accomplished  for  their  vocation.  It  will  afford  to  our 
young  men  a  good  school  in  which  to  train  themselves  for  the 
employment  of  teaching. 

The  place  selected.  The  selection  of  Bridgeton  as  the  seat  of  an 
Academy  was  made  in   view  of  its  central  position,  as  to  most  of 


95 

our  congregations;  its  business  relations  to  most  of  the  towns  in 
West  Jersey,  and  its  accessibility  to  them  by  public  conveyances; 
and  also  in  the  prospect  of  a  liberal  subscription  towards  the  Insti- 
tution from  the  residents  of  that  place. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  and  its  acti-m.  A  Board  of  Twenty 
Trustees,  selected  from  different  congregations  belonging  to  the 
Presbytery,  was  duly  appointed  in  April  last.  At  a  recent  meet- 
ing of  the  Board,  an  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of  the  under- 
signed, was  appointed  to  make  an  estimate  of  the  probable  cost  oi 
a  suitable  lot  and  buildings  for  the  contemplated  Academy,  and  to 
take  immediate  measures  for  the  securing  of  funds  for  said  objects. 
At  the  same  time  the  Board  appointed  committees  in  each  congre. 
gation,  to  solicit  contributions  in  their  respective  neighborhoods; 
and  the  iindersigned  were  directed  to  address  to  them  a  communi- 
cation on  this  subject. 

We  therefore  report  to  you,  that  we  now  have  it  in  our  power  to 
secure,  if  adequate  funds  be  provided,  the  most  eligible  site  for  a 
school  known  to  us  in  this  region  of  country.  It  is  a  lot  within  the 
precincts  of  Bridgeton,  comprising  about  ten  acres  of  the  highest 
ground  in  our  town,  and  constituting  a  whole  square,  wthout 
any  liability  to  be  encroached  upon  by  buildings;  and  withal,  as 
airy  and  healthful  as  it  is  beautiful.  We  propose  to  erect  near  the 
centre  and  upon  the  highest  point  in  this  lot,  a  building  adapted 
to  a  Boarding  School,  which  is  indispensable  to  the  realization  of 
the  design  of  the  Presbytery. 

To  purchase  the  site  and  erect  the  buildings  it  is  estimated  that 
at  least  Ten  Thousand  Dollars  will  be  required.  We  \  ropose  that 
the  subscriptions  be  made  on  the  condition  that  at  least  Eight 
Thousand  Dollars  shall  be  subscribed  before  any  part  thereof  shall 
be  payable. 

We  would  in  the  name  of  the  Trustees  respectfully  and  earnestly 
request  your  aid  in  this  important  undertaking;  believing,  as  we 
do,  that  with  due  diligence  the  work  may  be  accomplished,  and 
that  it  pro:nises  inestimable  benefits,  religious  and  intellectual,  to 
this  portion  of  West  Jersey.  It  is  exceedingly  desirable  that  sub- 
scriptions be  secured  as  promptly  as  possible,  so  that  an  early 
report  may  be  made  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  which  now  awaits 
the  result  of  your  and  our  labours. 

Be  pleased,   therefore,  to  apprize  us,    at  as  early  a  date  as  practi- 


96 

cable,  of  your  success,  by  addressing  Wm.  G.  Nixon,  the  Chairman 

of  the  Executive  Committee, 

SAMUEL  BEACH  JONES, 
WIIvLIAiVI  ELMER, 
WILLIAM  G.  NIXON, 
LEWIS  McBRIDE, 
HENRY  B.  LUPTON, 
DAVID  P.  ELMER, 
EPHRAIM  BUCK, 

Executive  Committee. 

We,  the  undersigned,  hereby  agree  to  contribute  the  sums  affixed 
to  our  names,  towards  the  amount  of  Ten  Thousand  Dollars  to  be 
raised  for  the  erection  of  an  Academy  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Presbytery  of  West  Jersey;  one-half  to  be  paid  when  the  subscrip- 
tions shall  amount  to  Eight  Thousand  Dollars;  and  the  remainder 
in  six  months  from  that  time. 

Dr.  William  Elmer  headed  the  subscription  with  his 
name  for  one  thousand  dollars,  and  others  followed  with 
liberality  according  to  and  beyond  their  means.  But 
two  years  slipped  away  before  stifficient  money  had  been 
subscribed  to  permit  of  further  progress  and  when  on 
April  30th,  1852,  a  second  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held, 
it  was  found  that  the  total  subscription  only  amotinted 
to  $8,416;  three- fourths  of  which  was  from  Bridgeton, 
about  $1,600  from  other  congregations  in  West  Jersey, 
and  between  five  and  six  hundred  dollars  from  friends  of 
the  enterprise  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York.  Outside 
of  Bridgeton,  Pittsgrove  was  the  banner  town  in  giving, 
and  in  the  very  full  and  very  valuable  memorandum  kept 
by  the  long  time  friend  of  the  Academy,  Dr.  J.  Barron 
Potter,  whose  recent  death  we  all  mourn  to-day,  the 
following  list  may  be  found  which  shows  how  faithfully 
the  work  was  done:  3  subscriptions,  $125.00;  i  ten 
dollar  note,  $10.00;  8  cards,  $35.00;  13  one  dollar  notes, 
$13.00;  4  half  dollars,  $2,00;  4  dimes,  .40;  36  quarters, 


97 
$9.oo;  13  half-dimes,  .65;  2  gold  dollars,  $2.00;  56  three- 
cent  pieces,  $1.78;  12  levies,  $1.50;  24 pennies,  .24;8  fips, 
.50.     In  all;  159  contributions  amounting  to  $200.57. 

Meanwhile  an  act  of  incorporation  had  been  .secured 
(Feb.  19,  1852,)  and  the  lot,  since  known  as  Academy 
Hill,  provisionally  purchased  at  a  cost  of  $1,625.50. 

On  the  26th  of  April  of  that  same  year,  the  whole  of  the 
Executive  Committee  with  some  other  friends  of  the 
enterprise  met  on  the  hill  and  agreed  upon  and  staked 
out  the  site  for  the  building,  and  all  these  succeeding  years 
have  vindicated  theii  selection,  for  a  more  perfectly 
located  school  is  not  to  be  found,  dare  we  say,  in  the.se 
United  States. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  1852,  the  corner-stone  was  laid 
with  much  ceremony,  with  the  following  program: 

Invocation  Rev.  G.  W.  Janvier.  Pittsgrove. 

Reading  of  Scripture,     "Except  the  Lord  build  the  house,  etc. 

Dr.  Jones. 
Singing,     127  Psalm.— (Tune  "Uxbridge.")      „     ,        ._  ., 

Praver  Dr.  KoUock,  of  Greenwich. 

\ddresses,     Dr.  C.  VanRensalaer,  of  Philadelphia;   Dr.   Wm.    B. 

Ewing,  of  Greenwich 
Statement  of  Financial  Condition  and  Collection. 

Laying  of  Corner  stone,  ^^^    ^^   ^^^^^^^^  ^^  Woodburt 

Singing      "All  hnil  the  power  of  Jesus  Name,"  ^^^^^^^^^ 

Benediction,  ^  ■ 

And  thus  the  child  was  born!  Ah,  but  there  was 
infancy  yet  before  the  child  could  talk,  and  "through  the 
slippery  paths  of  youth"  with  changes  all  too  frequent  of 
nurse  and  governess,  the  child  was  to  be  conducted  unto 
man's  estate. 

I  may  not  take  time  to-day  to  tell  of  these  eventful 
years.  At  .some  other  time,  perhaps  by  some  other  and 
better  qualified  pen,  this  history  should  be  written  and 
preser\'ed. 


How  full  of  interest  and  of  incident  would  such  a 
history  be!  How  we  sigh  with  one  of  the  early  Princi- 
pals as  we  hear  his  plaint,  "The  experience  of  the  past 
year  has  convinced  me  that  the  office  involves  too  much 
oppressive  labor  for  me  to  fill  properly."  How  we  smile 
when  we  read  that  the  Board  resolved, 

"That,  in  order  to  prevent  many  inconveniences  which  often 
arise  in  boarding  schools,  from  the  introduction  of  foreign  bedding 
and  to  maintain  that  degree  of  cleanliness  and  order,  which  we 
trust  may  characterize  this  institution,  henceforth  the  bed  and  bed- 
ding shall  be  furnished  by  the  Principal  and  none  other  intro- 
duced." 

And  how,  when  this  expedient  failed,  the  Principal — 
poor  man — not  being  able  to  furnish  the  amount  of  bed- 
ding required,  it  was  resolved  that 

"Different  churches  of  the  Presbytery  be  requested  to  furni-h 
each  a  room  " 

Many  of  the  churches  responded  right  loyally  to  this 
request,  and  barring  a  little  incongruity  of  style  and  vari- 
ation of  color  the  rooms  thus  provided  for  were  well 
equipped.  And  some  of  the  thoughtful  dames, — may  their 
daughters  be  worthy  of  their  mothers! — intent  on  helping 
the  souls  as  well  as  the  bodies  of  the  dear  boys,  deftly 
sewed  scripture  texts  in  with  the  hems  of  the  bedding, 
and  as  John  or  Tom  or  Enoch,  woke  in  the  morning 
wondering  what  he  was  to  get  for  breakfast,  he  could 
read  on  the  edge  of  his  sheet,  "Be  content  with  such 
things  as  you  have,"  or,  ere  he  threw  his  pillow  at  Ed., 
who  was  similarly  armed,  he  was  encouraged  by  the 
motto  on  the  case  to  "Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith." 

On  motion,  too,  it  was  resolved, 

"That — all  damages  done  to  the  school  building,  furniture  or 
other  property  of  the  Academy,  shall  be  paid  by  the  person  or 
persons  committing  the  same  when  known  and  if  unknown,  that 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Principal  to  assess  the  said  damage  upon 
all  the  scholars  in  the  Academy  at  the  time  of  the  offense." 


99 

1„  accordance  with  this  we  find  in  .861,  that  a  tax 
amounting  to  $4.50  -as  levied  on  all  the  --»be-  oj  the 
school.  Again,  we  find  a  committee  on  reseat.ng  he 
school-roon?  repotting  that  they  had  P™«e<led  w^h 
the  necessary   work  not  yet  knowing  tts  c-t    -1>    'g 

upon  the  Board  to  devise  '^o- -^>-.*°  P'''' "'f^^'f ", 'i 
Another    Principal    very   suggestively   remarks   tha 
••some  of  the  Directors  have  been  pleased  to  eompUment 
mygarden,  which  shows  the  result  of  carefu^  cu  Unr 
and  vet  my  labors  in  the  garden  were  mostly  for  reerea 
ton  and  from  love  of  the  work.     With  eqtial  or  greater 
love  of  teaching  and  with  far  greater  l^bor^  -«   and 
thought  bestowed  upon  my  school,  I  ought  to  have  far 
higher  compliment  and  far  greater  encouragement. 

But  we  n^st  not  linger  over  these  tempting  made  ts. 
Nine  different  Principals-Smythe,  Stevenson    Thomp 
fo^^,  Gosman,  Whitely,  Diefendorf,  Vaughan,  Shern.an 
Allen  and  Lyon,-have  through  these  years  been  m  sue 
«sslo„  at  the  h^ad  of  the  school.     Through  storm  and 
thron.'h  sunshine,   among  rocks  and  over  smooth  seas 
1  ey  have  guided  the  eraft,  and  to-day  she  s, 11  sa.ls  on 
stunch  in  timber,  stronger  in  crew,  and  wtth  as  large  a 
passenger  list  as  at  any  time  in  all  the  past. 
'    Vhel,  on  July  4th,  t776.  the  patriotic  cni.ens  of  Ph  1- 
adelphia,  heard   that    the  Declaration,  th^t   has     .nee 
become  so  famous,  had  been  signed,  they  rang  th  ir  bd 
and  shouted  out  their  joy.     At  the  same  tune  a  courier 
started  from  the  opposite  shore  and  earned  along  the 
^ews  and  the  .shontTill  he  reached  the  JO-S  1--" 
"he  Cohansey.     And  then  the  farmers  from  *e  country 
round  rejoiced  and  shouted  and  rang  aloud  their  belk 
Bu  with  more  judgment  than  the  Quakers  of  the  city  of 
B^l:*    Love,  tlfey  did  not  spoil  it  for  future  use  and 


roo 

that  same  bell  still  hangs  above  yonder  Academy,  and 
daily  calls  the  boys  with  its  patriotic  tongue. 

Thus  we  look  back  to  the  past,  thus  we  consider  the 
present  and  thus  with  the  fullest  confidence  in  the  God 
who  has  helped  through  that  past  and  is  helping  in  this 
present,  we  look  toward  the  future  and  take  courage. 


lOI 

Historj'    of     Pearl    Street    Missioii    and    East 

Bridgeton  Chapel,  by  F*.  Kennedy 

Reeves. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  philanthropists 
had  an  opportunity  to  remove  their  field  of  operations 
from  the  battle  ground  and  the  hospital  to  places  nearer 
home.  In  the  early  months  of  1866,  the  attention  of 
good  people  of  Bridgeton  was  called  to  the  numbers  of 
children  spending  the  Sabbath  in  wandering  through 
the  streets,  playing  on  the  wharves  or  lounging  on  the 
bridges.  Some  ladies  looked  into  the  dwelling  places  of 
these  children,  and  found  that  while  not  houseless,  many 
were  practically  homeless.  Their  domiciles  were  repul- 
sive. One  mother  of  five  boys  stated  she  didn't  care 
where  her  boys  went  Sundays,  so  they  were  out  of  her 
sight;  she  usually  put  them  out  of  doors  Sunday  morning 
and  they  went  where  they  pleased.  Another  actually 
told  her  visitor  she  washed  her  boy  was  dead;  and  only 
the  fear  of  the  law  kept  her  from  killing  him.  Is  it  any 
wonder  such  words  and  sights  made  the  hearts  of  Godly, 
motherly  women  ache  for  the  boys  w^hose  young  lives 
were  being  blasted  by  such  influences  ? 

As  Mrs.  M.  S.  Fithian  passed  the  corner  of  Commerce 
and  I^aurel  streets  one  Sabbath  morning,  twenty-six 
years  ago,  she  encountered  a  crowd  of  barefooted  rag-a- 
muffins  fighting  and  swearing  as  usual,  but  who  paused 
to  listen  to  her  invitation  to  come  to  the  Session  House 
on  Pearl  street,  later  in  the  day.  They  accepted  the 
invitation  and  kept  the  appointment  and  finally  consented 
to  regularly  attend  a  Sabbath  School  if  one  could  be 
organized  expressly  for  them.  Interest  in  the  waifs 
increased;  money  was  contributed,  and  a  lot  on  South 
Pearl  street  purchased  for  $500.     A  building  was  erected 


ro: 


<fosting  about  $1,400.  In  two  years  it  became  necessarc 
to  make  an  addition,  at  an  expense  of  $200.  A  second 
time  it  was  enlarged,  the  improvement  costing  $1,000;. 
and  recently  it  was  enlarged  again  at  an  expenditure  of 
$834,  the  entire  amount  being  collected  by  the  ladies, 
interested. 

From  the  first,  this  work,  has-  been  among  a  class  who- 
have  not  been  blessed  with  this  world's  goods  and  the 
accompanying  advantages.  It  was  found  necessary,  for 
a  time,  to  provide  for  the  physical  nature  as  well  as  the 
mental  and  moral,  and  while  the  daily  meal  brought 
m-any  hungry  little  ones  inside  the  doors,,  others  were 
kept  away  because  the  name  "Soup  School"  was  given 
it  by  some  thoughtless  scholars.  This  was  a  small  matter 
compared  with  the  difficulty  of  managing  those  who  had 
never  learned  the  first  elements  of  self-controL  As  soon 
as  the  novelty  of  the  new  school  wore  off,  many  of  the 
scholars  amused  themselves  in  annoying  and  shocking 
Superintendent  and  teachers.  They  were  not  prevented 
from  swearing  and  fighting  and  drinking  at  home;  why 
should  these  people,  who  had  no  legal  right  to  lay  their 
hands  on  them,  prevent  them  from  doing  as  they  pleased  ? 
Often  at  Teacher's  meetings  was  the  question  discussed 
whether  or  not  some  of  the  worst  of  the  boys  should  be 
expelled ;  but  this  was  never  done.  Perseverance  brought 
its  reward. 

In  speaking  to  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  movement 
recently,  We  were  told  that  such  scenes  are  a  thing  of  the 
past.  This  fact  speaks  for  the  civilizing  effect  of  the 
.gospel.  Wherever  the  Bible  goes,  humanity  rises  to  a 
higher  plane  of  civilization.  Christian  missions,  whether 
in  the  Sandwich  Island-s  or  the  Second  ward  of  Bridge- 
ton  follow  parallel  lines,  all  tending  to  improve  mankind 
socially  as  well  as  spiritually. 


103 

'Some  of  the  children  who  attend  the  Alission  School 
"belong  to  families  that  are  compelled  lo  -migrate  fre- 
•quently.  Thus,  the  p/'rsonncJ  is  constantly  clianging. 
In  the  first  five  3'ears  of  the  school,  the  names  of  five 
hundred  children  were  enrolled.  Letters  are  occasionally' 
received  from  old  scholars  who  left  little  impress  upon 
the  teachers,  but  whose  impressions  of  the  school  have 
been  lasting, 

A  night  school  for  w^eek  days  is  one  of  the  features  of 
this  missionary  enterprise.  It  is  unfortunate  that  a 
niunicipality  as  progressive  and  enlightened  as  ours, 
•does  not  provide  instruction  for  those,  who,  by  the  force 
ctf  circumstances,  are  prevented  from  attending  day 
schools.  Were  it  not  for  the  Pearl  Street  Night  School 
and  one  or  two  Night  Schools  supported  by  glass  manu- 
facturing corporations,  many  of  the  boys  would  reach 
manhood  without  even  the  rudiments  of  education.  Our 
•city,  however,  makes  a  small  annual  appropriation 
towards  the  expense  of  this  branch  of  the  w^ork. 

For  about  ten  years,  the  Mission  School  was  under  the 
auspicies  of  the  Ladies'  Union  Mission  Society  of  Bridge- 
ton,  an  association  composed  of  ladies  of  all  denomina- 
tions. Since  that  time,  without  anj-  effort  from  within 
or  without,  the  work  has  graduall)'  passed  into  the  hands 
of  our  own  denomination.  This  has  added  to  the  care 
and  responsibility  of  the  faithful  Presbyterian  women 
who  have  had  charge  of  the  work.  The  Sabbath  School 
in  past  years  was  superintended  by  Mr.  Theophilus 
Trenchard,  and  now  by  Mr.  John  M.  Laning.  It  num- 
bers about  150  scholars  and  20  teachers.  A  song  service, 
interspersed  with  short  addresses,  has  been  held  Sunday 
evenings  for  years,  and  now^  a  Sunday  morning  preach- 
ing service  is  regularlj'  held,  while  the  service  on  Sunday 


I04 

evenings  partakes  more  of  the  nature  of  a  regular  church 
service  than  formerly. 

A  prayer  meeting  is  held  every  Tuesday  evening,  and 
a  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  and  two  classes  of  King's 
Daughters,  meet  weekly. 

The  reading  and  amusement  room  for  working  boys 
is  an  interesting  feature  of  the  winter's  work.  A  room 
is  provided,  well  lighted,  warmed  and  stocked  with 
games,  illustrated  papers,  magazines  and  books.  Boys 
are  welcome  here  any  night  in  the  week.  Practical  talks 
are  occasionally  given  in  this  room  by  their  friends. 

The  sewing  school  for  girls  is  a  most  valuable  adjunct. 
It  meets  every  Saturday  afternoon  during  the  winter  and 
is  largely  attended.  The  work  is  systematized  and  classi- 
fied, and  the  child  can  take  her  first  stitches,  and  finally 
become  expert  in  plain  sewing.  There  are  a  number  of 
helpers  in  this  department,  the  scope  of  which  may  be 
imagined,  when  the  preparation  for  one  Saturday's  sew- 
ing requires  what  would  amount  to  fifty  hours  time  of  a 
single  person. 

A  mother's  meeting  is  regularl}'  held,  to  which  tired 
women  come  weeklj',  glad  to  leave  for  a  time  the  monot- 
ony of  household  duties,  to  engage  in  Bible  reading  and 
religious  instruction,  and  listen  to  encouraging  talks 
from  sympathizing  teachers. 

We  might  specify  one  good  work  after  another  which 
is  being  done  on  South  Pearl  street.  The  work  has  been 
growing  for  years.  Many  have  been  converted,  hun- 
dreds have  been  made  to  grow  in  grace  and  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  I^ord  Jesus  Christ.  Converts  that  might 
have  been  in  the  Presbyterian  Fold  have  connected  them- 
selves with  other  churches.  God's  blessing  has  attended 
the  Pearl  street   Mission  from  its  inception.     The  labors 


T05 
©rPhineas  B.  Kennedy,  John  M.  Laning,  Jr.,  and  Fran*k 
Hort,  within  the  last  few  years  have  been  so  stinuilating, 
that  a  step  forward  was  decided  upon,  and  now  it  is  the 
Fourth  Presbyterian  Church,  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
Rev.  Henry  Reeves,  the  stated  supply  appointed  by 
Presbytery.  The  church  was  organized  on  the  24th  day 
of  last  May  with  eighteen  members,  since  which  time 
five  new  members  have  been  added,  Theodore  F.  Wurts 
-was  duly  elected  and  installed  an  Elder,  having  served 
in  that  capacity  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Atlantic 
City. 

We  cannot  close  this  sketch  of  this  mission  enterprise 
wnthout  paying  tribute  to  one  whose  name  is  woven  into 
its  history:  I  refer  to  Mrs.  M.  vS.  Fithian.  The  work 
was  started  by  her  word  of  invitation;  she  has  given  her 
time  and  energies  to  it  for  nearly  a  generation;  she  haS 
lived  to  see  her  prayers,  that  it  grow  into  a  church, 
answered.  She  is  still  at  the  front  with  unchecked  per- 
severance and  enthusiasm.  Her  faith  in  a  bright  future 
for  the  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church  is  unwavering.  Its 
future  cannot  be  other  than  bright  if  the  past  rate  of 
progression  be  continued. 

HISTOkY  OF  EAST  BRIDGETON  CHAPEL. 

The  history  of  East  Bridgeton  Chapel  begins  in  1S86. 
when,  through  the  efforts  of  our  pastors,  a  Sunday 
School  was  organized,  the  first  meeting  being  held  Octo- 
ber 31st  at  the  residence  of  J.  Howard  Loper.  Charles 
H.  Pierson  was  the  first  Superintendent,  and  fifty-two 
members  were  enrolled.  The  following  month,  the  Ses- 
sions of  the  three  churches  decided  to  erect  a  chapel.  A 
lot  was  purchased  at  Commerce  street  and  Coral  avenue, 
and  a  building  contracted  for,  which  was  completed  and 


io6 

dedicated  earty  in  July  1887.  Dr.  Brodhead  assisted  in 
this  service  which  was  believed  to  have  been  his  last 
public  ministration.  The  total  cost  of  the  lot,  building 
and  furniture  was  about  $1 ,900,  $1 ,300  of  which  has  been 
raised,  mainly  by  subscription,  leaving  a  debt  still  against 
the  property  of  $600. 

This  locality  has  not  been  built  up  as  rapidly  as  antici- 
pated, but  East  Bridgeton  Chapel  is  still  holding  its 
ground,  and  is  proving  a  blessing  to  the  neighborhood. 
Phineas  B.  Kennedy  labored  here  for  several  months,  and 
subsequently  Henr>'  W.  Hathaway,  a  teacher  at  West 
Jersey  Academy  gave  a  portion  of  his  time  to  '.he  work. 
Since  September,  1891,  there  has  been  no  stated  supply. 
Sabbath  School  is  held  every  Sabbath  afternoon,  and 
meetings  are  held  Sunday  evenings,  and  once  during  the 
week,  the  Sunday  morning  preaching  service  being  dis- 
pensed with.  George  J.  Mayhew  succeeded  Charles  H. 
Pierson  as  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School,  and  at 
present  Mr.  Albert  Richmond  acts  in  that  capacity.  The 
faithful  few  who  regularly  attend  Sabbath  School  and 
evening  meetings  have  been  built  up  in  their  christian 
life  and  attest  to  the  value  of  the  work,  which  only 
requires  permanent  pastoral  supervision  to  show  still 
greater  results. 

You  have  seen  in  the  souvenir  programme,  illustra- 
tions of  the  Pearl  Street  Mission  and  East  Bridgeton 
Chapel,  but  to  complete  the  picture  galler}-  of  our  Pres- 
byterian out-posts,  we  should  have  a  view  of  the  old 
canning  factory  out  on  Irving  avenue,  nearly  two  miles 
from  here.  A  Sunday  School  was  organized  there  the 
first  Sabbath  of  this  month  with  twentj^-five  members. 
East  Sabbath,  the  most  oppressive  of  the  year,  there 
were  fifty  present. 


The  occupation  of  the  factory  is  only  temporary,  and 
other  quarters  should  be  secured  before  cold  weather. 
Twenty-seven  members  of  our  churches,  in  good  and 
regular  standing,  have  signed  a  petition  to  Presbj-tery  to 
organize  them  into  a  church  to  be  located  at  this  point, 
and  nearl}-  $2,000  has  been  subscribed  toward  a  building. 

When  the  arrangements  for  this  day's  celebration  were 
being  made,  it  was  suggested  that  we  erect  a  monument 
in  this  burial  ground  as  a  permanent  memorial  of  this 
Centennial  anniversary.  If  we  are  to  have  a  permanent 
memorial,  how  much  better  than  a  cold  piece  of  sculpt- 
ured marble,  with  its  suggestions  of  death,  would  be  a 
Centennial  Memorial  Church,  from  which  would  go 
forth  continually,  the  Gospel  message,  showing  multi- 
tudes the  way  to  Eternal  I^ife. 


'^P'Vtfgrr'essfve  P'resby  terianisni,"  by  IMr.  Ko-Erf- 
C.  OgclerXy  Ptviladelplaia. 

May  a  layman  discuss  it?  Your  invitation  conveys 
the  answer,  A  laynaan  may  discuss  it,  and  of  course  you 
can  only  expect  in  this  paper  a  plain  layman's  notions  on 
what  constitutes  Progressive  Presbyterianism.. 

The  various  branches  of  the  Christian  Church  were 
born  in  great  historic  crises  in  the  long  past.  This  age 
does  not  produce  sects.  The  Presbyterian  Church  was 
evolved  from  historic  conditions  which  do  not  now  exist,, 
and  few  af  us  are  members  of  this  time-honored  Church 
from  any  original  convictions^  we  were  simply  born  Pres- 
byterians. 

Occasioi^ally  there  is  an  exception.  My  father  was 
born  a  Baptist  and  became  a  Presbyterian  by  conviction, 
I  owe  a  part  of  ray  Presbj'terianism  to  some  who  came 
into  the  church  by  marriage.  Famil}^  influences  have 
put  the  vast  majority  of  us  into  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
In  this  age,  heredity  almost  invariably  controls  the 
attachments  of  the  various  Christians  to  their  sects. 
Sectarian  convictions  are,  therefore,  subsequent  and 
secondarj'. 

These  conditions  demand  that  denominational  bias 
should  be  controlled  by  the  broadest  Christian  charity. 

The  prayer  of  Jesus,  "That  the}'  may  all  be  one:  even 
as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they 
also  may  be  one  in  us;  that  the  world  may  believe  that 
Thou  has  sent  Me;"  and  the  teaching  of  St.  Paul  whose 
thought  of  the  Chvirch  is  that  of  a  whole  family  in  heaven 
and  earth,  combine  in  giving  unit}'  as  the  ideal  of 
Christianity. 

All  denominationalism,  therefore,  is  in  conflict  with 
the  ideal,  and  until   we   have   absolute  divine  authority 


I09 

that  our  Church  coutaius  the  complete,  perfect  aud  exchi- 
sive  doctriue  and  government  ordained  by  Jesus  Christ, 
can  we  regard  our  Church  as  other  than  one  means 
among  man}-  for  the  salvation  of  men.  That  we  have 
such  divine  authorit}-  is  not  claimed  or  asserted. 

The  recognition  of  this  fact  underlies  all  consideration 
of  progress.  If  we  look  at  our  Christianity  through  our 
Presbj'terianism  we  merely  support  an  ecclesiastical  order 
and  guard  a  system  of  dogma  which  is  not  claimed  as 
essential  to  the  salvation  of  men  and  is  not  demanded  by 
the  revealed  word  of  God,  To  sustain  these  positions 
may  be  success,  it  is  not  progress. 

That  this  language  is  not  too  strong  is  evident  from 
the  fact  that  our  church,  in  its  actions  looking  toward 
revision,  does  not  regard  the  Confession  as  essential,  and 
that  it  also  admits  the  freedom  of  salvation  through  or- 
ganizations that  hold  little  in  common  with  us  save  the 
recognition  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  the  Divine  Saviour  of 
men. 

If,  however,  we  look  at  our  Presbyterianism  through 
our  Christianity  the  case  is  reversed.  The  point  of  view 
is  vital.  The  accidents  of  life  make  us  Presbyterian,  but 
only  personal  experience  can  make  us  Christians.  Our 
denomination  ma}^  make  us  merel}^  religious.  There  are 
vast  masses  of  useless  religion  under  many  Christian 
names  and  forms,  creeds  and  professions  in  the  world. 
Christ  personally  known  can  make  us  godly.  True 
Christianity  and  nothing  else  is  godliness  and,  therefore, 
Presbyterianism  is  only  in  condition  to  be  progressive 
when  it  is  vitalized,  transfigured,  inspired,  uplifted  by 
the  loving  spirit  of  devotion  to  mankind,  the  simple  and 
spiritual  ethics,  the  grand  courage,  the  abounding  jo}^ 
the  divine  charity  of  the  Master  that  she  claims  as  leader 
and  to  whom  she  professes  allegiance. 


no 

Ottr  constant  aim  must  be  to  test  our  personal  lives 
and  the  current  histor}^  of  our  church  by  the  simple 
standards  of  the  New  Testament  as  we  find  them  in 
the  text.  This  every  honest  soul  and  average  mind  can 
do  without  reference  to  histor\'  or  systems  of  man's 
device.  We  all  know  what  the  Master  says;  we  become 
frightfull}^  confused  when  we  undertake  to  find  out  what 
somebody  says  he  says.  Much  present  trouble  comes 
from  allowing  the  latter  to  confuse  the  former.  The 
Christ  test  is  the  only  true  test. 

This  being  so,  Progressive  Presbyterianism  will  seek 
to  divest  itself  of  every  weight.  It  has  outgrown  many 
things.  The  age  of  its  peculiar  protest  is  past  and  its 
history'  is  secure.  Presbyterians  ought  to  study  the  his- 
tory of  their  church.  Large  familiarity  with  the  nar- 
rower period,  when  light  and  knowledge  were  less 
abundant  and  many  things  now  non-essential  were  vital, 
will  broaden  the  mind  and  perfect  the  judgment. 

We  hear  much  in  these  days  about  the  study  of  Com- 
parative Religion  and  the  little  light  that  filters  through 
to  the  layman's  narrow  sphere  from  such  great  discussion, 
starts  questions  as  to  the  Saviour's  meaning  in  the 
remark  "I  have  other  sheep  not  of  this  fold."  The  deep 
research  called  for  by  such  study  is  beyond  most  of  us, 
but  there  is  one  study  of  comparative  religion,  that,  if 
Christians,  we  must  make,  and  it  is  the  comparison  be- 
tween the  religion  of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles  and  the 
religion  of  our  Presbyterian  Church.  All  study  of  the 
history  of  our  Church,  all  testing  of  its  present  position, 
all  forecast  of  its  future  progress  must  be  from  that  point 
of  view.  It  is  one  of  the  glories,  shall  I  not  say  the 
greatest  glory  of  our  organization,  that  it  holds  freedom 
of  conscience  as  a  God-given  right  to  man  upon  which  no 


Ill 

human  dictum  may  be  laid.  Therefore  the  duty  of  try- 
ing the  Spirits,  finding  the  basis  of  beHef,  judging  of 
Church  poHty  is  one  which  no  Presbyterian  Christian 
can  honestly  escape. 

Nor  should  he  desire  to  escape  it.  What  one  of  us  is 
there  holding  so  low  and  small  a  standard  of  the  self- 
respect  involved  in  freedom  of  conscience  and  salvation 
through  Jesus  Christ  as  to  willinglj'  abdicate  the  princi- 
ples of  private  judgment.'*  Opinions  held  upon  the  dictum 
of  other  men,  however  great,  are  like  second-hand 
clothes  made  for  another.  They  are  a  misfit.  Opinions 
so  derived  are  not  opinions,  they  are  but  the  prejudices 
that  underlie  bigotry. 

Our  Presbyterianism  rings  true  at  one  point  at  least. 
It  makes  a  man  a  man — recognizes  the  touch  of  the 
divine  mind.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  should  destroy  all 
sympathy'  with  such  sentiments  as  are  expres.sed  in  the 
words 

"Would  he  devote  that  sacred  head 
For  such  a  worm  as  I." 

That  dear  sacred  head  was  not  devoted  to  worms,  but  to 
grand  moral  beings  made  in  the  image  of  God  and  pos- 
sessing a  part  of  the  divine  nature. 

Oh,  ye  theologians  who  explain  so  much,  tell  me  the 
mystery  of  myself!  I  stand  in  awe  and  wonder  as  the 
scientific  seeker  for  truth  tells  me  of  the  star  dust  and  of 
the  wonders  of  the  universe,  and  my  mind  reels  with  the 
thoughts  of  immensity.  I  stagger  at  the  idea  of  eternity, 
to  contemplate  it  too  long  would  dethrone  ni}-  reason;  I 
hear  the  testimony  of  the  rocks  as  the  slight  echoes  of 
geology  reach  my  unscientific  ear,  and  turning  from  it 
all,  look  upon  myself  and  my  fellow-beings  with  larger 
awe,    greater  wonder  and  deeper  emotion,  for  we  have 


112 

moral  natures,  the  power  of  doing  right  and  wrong.     To 
create  us  God  has  given  us  a  part  of  himself. 

As  Presbyterians  we  need  to  realize  that  grandest  of 
all  thoughts.  It  has  come  into  our  church  sj^stem  pure, 
lustrous,  radiant  from  the  mind  of  God.  When  realized, 
it  brings  us  into  the  divine  harmony,  and  possesses  the 
power  of  transfiguration,  the  same  in  essence  and  differ- 
ent onl}^  in  degree  from  that  which  Peter  and  James  and 
John  witnessed  when  Moses  and  Elias  talked  with  Jesus 
upon  the  mount. 

The  last  analysis  of  every  thing  in  religion  is  personal. 
Given  this  personal  uplifting,  possible  to  every  individual, 
as  taught  and  emphasized  by  the  genius  of  our  Church, 
and  we  will  be  completely  progressive. 

But  as  we  look  at  the  principles  of  our  Christianity 
and  our  denomination,  and  compare  them  with  facts,  we 
turn  sadly  away  and  sigh  and  fold  our  hands,  and  moan 
over  the  degeneracy  of  the  times.  The  ideal  seems  a 
long,  long  way  off;  and  it  will  stay  a  long  way  off  if  we 
sit  with  Elijah  under  the  Juniper  tree,  or  sing  in  the 
minor  key  to  the  vibration  of  Jeremiah's  harp  under  the 
willows.  It  was  in  the  New  Dispensation  that  Jesus  said 
to  His  disciples  under  the  shadozv  of  the  cross,  "Your  joy 
no  man  taketh  from  you."  Of  Jesus  it  was  said  that  for 
the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him,   He  endured  the  cross. 

A  nat'on  looks  to  the  past  for  its  Golden  Age,  but  the 
Golden  Age  of  Christianity  is  always  in  the  future. 
Jesus  lived  and  wrought  upon  an  ideal.     So  must  we. 

You  say  all  this  is  romantic.  Yes,  as  the  world  goes 
it  is  romantic,  as  all  beauty  and  perfection  are  romantic. 
But  it  is  practical  as  well.  Whither  will  it  lead?  That 
makes  no  difference.  We  must  follow  no  matter  where 
it  leads. 


1 1." 

Why  is  this  question  of  Progressive  Presbyterianisni 
before  us?  Simply  because  we  know  that  our  Presby- 
terianisni is  somewhat  lacking  in  true  progress.  We 
discuss  it  and  try  to  find  some  light  that  will  teach  us 
how  to  make  it  better. 

History  repeats  itself.  The  situation  shows  our  ideal 
obscured  by  the  traditions  of  the  Elders;  we  find  the 
tithing  of  the  mint,  and  the  anise  and  the  cummin  to 
the  neglect  of  the  weightier  matters;  we  find  doctrinal 
loads;  grievous  to  bear,  fa.stened  upon  the  shoulders  of 
men.  We  find  .some  churches  bound  together  by  social 
and  financial,  rather  than  by  .spiritual  ties,  the  right  to 
a  place  in  vx'hich  to  listen  to  the  Good  News  of  Christ 
sold  for  a  price,  and  many  localities  in  which  the  poor 
have  not  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them.  We  find 
political  methods  frequently  prevailing  in  the  make  up 
of  the  Church  representation,  and  the  raging  bitterness 
of  party  strife  often  u.surping  the  place  and  the  power  of 
the  spirit  of  love. 

Historj^  repeats  itself.  Like  the  soldiers  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, we  must  be  iconocla.stic;  many  an  image 
must  be  shattered  before  our  ideal  can  be  put  upon  the 
upgrade  toward  realization.  Like  the  Westminister 
As.sembly,  we  must  be  constructive,  replacing  that  which 
we  destroy  with  something  better. 

Remember,  please,  this  is  a  layman's  talk,  addressed 
particularly  to  laymen.  What  shall  we  plain,  average 
working  men  do?  A  few  practical  suggestions  are  all 
that  I  will  venture  to  present.     Then  I  am  done. 

It  is,  I  think,  very  needful  that  we  have  a  clear  con- 
ception of  our  Church.  What  is  it  to  each  one  of  us? 
In  reply  I  would  venture  to  intimate  that  it  simply  exists 
for  the  saving  of  men;  to  bring  souls  to  the  Saviour;  to 


114 

be  a  means  of  grace  for  the  upbuilding  of  Christians; 
to  promote  true  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and,  by  the  exercise 
of  such  graces  of  charity,  sympathy,  purity  and  benevo- 
lence as  he  enjoins,  hasten  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  on  earth.  Therefore,  all  creed,  doctrine  and 
organization,  all  the  offices  pertaining  to  the  sacred 
ministry,  all  the  spiritual  and  material  administration 
are  subordinate  to  and  created  for  that  one  grand, 
supreme  object. 

You  say  this  is  a  trite  platitude.  Granted.  But 
realize  it  and  all  things  will  fall  into  their  true  places, 
values  of  related  things  will  appear,  prejudices  will  no 
longer  pose  as  principles,  pride  of  power,  vanity  of 
opinion,  and  the  whole  cluster  of  personal  belongings 
that  seem  so  vital  now  will  be  lost  in  the  Christ  idea.  I 
cannot  see  anything  at  stake  in  the  existing  divisions. 
The  controversy  is  largely  personal.  The  honest  love  of 
truth  is  too  real  from  one  extreme  of  the  line  to  the 
other  to  endanger  anything  vital.  The  killing  letter  has 
possession  of  too  man}',  and  has  led  to  vast  intolerance. 
But  through  it  all  the  Divine  Word  says  it  is  the  Spirit 
that  maketh  alive.  It  becomes  a  la}anan  to  be  modest, 
but  I  cannot  help  thinking  of  the  great  picture  by  Hoff- 
man in  the  Gallery  of  Dresden,  in  which  the  boy  Christ 
is  reasoning  with  the  Doctors  of  the  Law.  Let  history 
repeat  itself  The  Doctors  of  the  Law  have  still  some- 
thing to  learn  from  the  same  Christ.  And  I  often  think 
that  many  of  these  same  Doctors  of  the  Daw  might  learn 
profitable  lessons  in  our  vSunday  Schools. 

The  plain  people  of  our  Church  see  clearly  many 
thirrgs  that  obstruct  our  progress.  Most  prominent  is 
the  contradiction  between  our  polity  and  our  doctrine. 
We  claim  libert}^  for  the  individual  conscience.     By  that 


115 

liberty  we  cultivate  sincere  fellowship  with  other  com- 
munions and  make  the  conditions  of  Church  membership 
so  extremely  simple  that  our  Church  is  the  most  broadly 
catholic  of  all  the  evangelical  bodies. 

Over  against  this  liberty  and  catholicity  we  have  a 
system  of  doctrine  which  holds  several  statements  that 
nobody  believes,  and  much  more  that  by  common  consent 
has  no  relation  to  the  salvation  of  men.  To  the  majority 
it  confuses  the  thought  of  God  and  practically  obscures 
the  Christ. 

We  are  sometimes  told  that  we  cannot  be  expected  to 
understand  it,  but  that  it  is  perfectly  clear  as  a  scientific 
system  to  the  theologian  who  has  given  a  life  time  to  its 
study.  But  every  Elder  and  Deacon  is  expected  to 
accept  it,  and  they  in  common  with  the  vast  majority  of 
the  clerg>^  must  satisfy  conscience  by  a  private  interpre- 
tation of  the  system. 

The  criticism  is  made  that  Presbyterians  fail  to  assert 
the  catholicity  of  their  Church.  But  progress  in  that 
direction  is  barred  and  will  be  until  scientific  theology  is 
put  with  other  sciences  in  the  schools  of  learning  and 
our  Church  has  a  simple  working,  practical  creed  ample 
for  Christianity. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Patton  has  asserted  in  my  hearing — I 
quote  his  exact  words,  "Presbyterianism  does  not  so 
much  ask  what  men  believe  as  what  they  are. ' '  And  he 
is  right  as  to  the  tnie  genius  of  our  beloved  Church.  If 
this  be  not  true,  what  is  to  become  of  us?  We  laymen 
know  nothing  of  criticism — higher,  lower,  or  medium. 
We  cannot  defend  the  authority  of  our  Bible  on  critical 
grounds;  daily  work  consumes  our  lives.  Are  we  to 
take  our  pill  of  theology  made  by  doctors  of  divinity  as 
we  take  the  pill  made  by  the  doctor  of  medicine,  knowing 


ii6 

nothing'  of  its  contents?  Are  we  to  accept  the  Bible  as 
divinel}"  inspired  because  other  men  say  it  is?  Such 
blind  following"  is  not  in  harmony  with  our  boasted 
liberty. 

Let  us  be  thankful  that  we  are  not  left  to  such  dire 
extremity,  to  such  an  unmanly  basis  for  our  beliefs. 
We  have  within  easj'  reach  the  far  higher  and  better 
testimony  of  experience,  Use  our  Bible,  find  its  won- 
derful fitness  to  human  need,  its  perfect  solution  of  all 
questions  ethical,  spiritual,  social,  and  we  each  have 
experimental  testimony  that  no  man  can  either  impart 
or  destroy.  Put  our  doctrinal  statements  in  harmony 
with  the  best  spiritual  experience  of  the  Church  and  we 
will  be  in  a  condition  for  progress.  Only  thus  can  our 
Church  be  truly  catholic.  Only  thus  can  we  command 
self-respect  and  stand  squarely  honest  with  the  world. 

There  are  several  minor  points  deserving  momentary 
consideration,  in  which  progress  is  obstructed  by  existing 
conditions. 

Prominent  among  them  is  our  internal  intolerance. 
Less  tolerant  to  holders  of  divergent  views  within  than 
to  other  Christians  holding  wider  divergence  without  is 
too  much  the  prevailing  temper.  I  dismiss  this  subject 
with  mere  mention  leaving  the  ungracious  task  of  citing 
the  abundant  existing  proof  of  the  statement  to  such  as 
may  choose  to  seek  it  in  the  official  acts,  general  discus- 
sion and  current  literature  of  our  Church. 

Progressive  Presbyterianism  demands  thoughtful  atten- 
tion to  the  question  of  forms  of  worship.  Many  among 
us  re  bitterly  opposed  to  ritual  and  yet  .are  rigid  ritual- 
ists, in  stubborn  devotion  to  existing  form.  The  Presby- 
terian Church  originally  liturgical  now  needs  an  optional 
liturg}^  varied,  rich  enough  to  meet  any  requirements  of 


117 

worship.     Not  binding  by  law,  but  yet  having  the  sanc- 
tion of  law. 

Cognate  to  this  question  is  that  of  the  Hymn  Book. 
Our  Church  has  never  had  a  proper  authorized  Hymnal. 
Fortunes  have  been  made  by  editors  and  publishers  who 
have  been  wise  enough  to  supply  our  church's  deficiency 
at  this  point.  The  worship  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
needs  to  meet  the  best  christian  culture  of  the.  age.  To 
assist  in  this  truly  devotional  music  is  required,  neither 
the  bald  leadership  of  a  precentor  nor  the  poor  reflection 
of  the  operatic  stage,  but  the  rich,  beautiful  and  worthy 
music  of  the  church,  both  ancient  and  modern.  Asso- 
ciated with  proper  music  should  be  such  poetrj'  as  best 
expresses  the  heart-life  of  Christianit}'.  From  the  Hymn 
Book  that  is  to  be,  doggerel,  however  pious,  and  all 
rhjmie  that  is  merely  euphonious,  should  be  excluded. 
From  cover  to  cover  it  should  be  honest  and  free  from 
editorial  vandalism.  Strange  ethics  prevail  in  much 
hymn  book  making.  Men  will  look  up  to  heaven  rever- 
ently repeating  '  'Thou  shait  not  bear  false  witness  against 
thj'  neighbor"  and  with  no  twinge  of  conscience  will 
straightway  proceed  to  garble  a  neighbor's  hymn. 
Progress  is  wanted  here. 

Thus  we  have  rapidly  glanced  over  a  few  of  the 
obstacles  that  oppose  the  progress  of  Prcsbj^terianism. 
We  have  given  some  little  attention  to  detail,  but  our 
thought  has  been  directed  more  to  the  Spirit  than  to  the 
letter  of  progress.  Give  us  the  true  Spirit  and  our 
sanctified  wills  and  strong  right  arms  will  find  or  will 
hew  the  path  that  leads  at  last  to  the  light. 

The  true  ideal  of  progress  finds  inspiration  from  the 
attainments  of  the  past,  but  leaves  the  dead  past  to  bury 
its  dead.     Other  men's  successes  are  no  more  potent  to 


save  than  ofher  men's  failures;  each  man,  each  age,  each 
organism  must  work  out  its  own  destiny.  Under  this- 
inevitatrle  law  the  work  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  must 
be  done.  The  age  is  one  of  readjustment.  Science  is 
revealing  mysteries  and  bringing  forward  facts  that  are 
making  sad  havoc  with  many  nations  of  truth.  That 
religion  only  is  worthy  of  the  name  that  welcomes  all 
ascertained  truth  from  whatever  source  it  may  come,  and 
however  it  may  shatter  preconceived  ideas.  That  faith 
only  is  worthy,  that  sees  God  everywhere,  and  believes 
that  natural,  equally  with  moral  law,  is  the  product  of 
the  divine  thought.  Science  has  wrung  reluctant  admis- 
sion from  religion  to  things  proven.  On  the  doctrinal 
side  our  Church  is  slow  to  find  the  right  and  follow  it. 

On  the  practical  side  we  have  been  equally  slow. 
With  the  most  skillful  putting  of  statistics  it  cannot  be 
shown  that  the  influences  of  our  Church  have  kept 
abreast  of  the  growth  of  population.  We  are  tardy  in 
our  adaption  to  changed  conditions.  The  materialistic 
standard  is  too  much  the  Church  standard;  we  are  apt 
to  be  at  ease  in  Zion.  Let  our  critical  sense  be  satisfied 
with  service  and  sermon,  and  conscience  lulled  to  sweet 
repose  by  moderate  gifts  to  benevolence,  and  we  trans- 
late our  Gospel  into  pious  bric-a-brac  and  think  we  are 
to  be  saved  by  taste. 

Happily  there  is  opposed  to  this  a  deep  feeling  of  un- 
rest. Men  are  questioning  as  to  duty  and  duties.  And 
while  ecclesiastical  authority  is  weakened  in  its  hold 
there  is  a  vast  amount,  more  perhaps  than  ever  before, 
of  honest  and  earnest  thinking  about  the  problems  of  life 
and  their  solution. 

And  this  makes  the  great  opportunity  for  the  Church. 
The  problems  of  humanity  are  the  problems  of  Christi- 


119 

.•anity,  for  only  Christ  has  given  the  sohition.  The  last 
decade  of  this  century  is  to  decide  the  relation  of  the 
Church  to  the  world.  The  solemn  question  is  what  will 
the  Presbyterian  Church  do  in  this  crisis— for  it  is  indeed 
a  crisis?     That's  your  question  and  mine. 

Our  system  of  organization  is  in  a  general  way  admir- 
able, needing  only  a  larger  executive  power,  for  all  sorts 
of  practical  work.  Our  standard  of  Christian  character 
is  high,  within  our  ranks  is  large  intelligence,  the  im- 
pulse of  the  martyr  spirit  that  seeks  to  find  the  line  of 
duty  and  follow  it  to  the  end  still  lingers,  the  croaking 
fears  that  our  Bible  is  discredited  are  groundless,  these 
forces,  and  others  like  them  are  at  our  command. 

American  Presbyterianism  halts  to-day  only  for 
Christian  Apostolic  intelligent  leadership.  The  question 
of  its  progress  is  merely  a  question  of  courageous  fidelity 
to  Christ  and  to  Him  alone. 

I  think  I  see  the  clouds  breaking.  The  great  heart 
of  the  Church  is  true,  and  wearying  of  strife  is  saying  let 
■us  have  peace,  honorable  peace,  the  plain  truth  of  Christ 
is  broad  enough  to  hold  all  honest  extremes  of  Christian 
scholarship,  even  though  its  statements  be  narrowed  to 
the  simplest  requirements  of  salvation.  It  is  true  of  the 
church  as  of  the  home. 

"It  is  the  heart  and  not  the  brain 

That  to  the  highest  doth  attain, 
And  he  that  followeth  love's  behest 

Far  exceedeth  all  the  rest  " 

A  century  hence  another  group  will  gather  here,  if 
Presbyterianism  survive  so  long.  And  it  will  survive^ 
What  .shall  the  verdict  of  posterity  be  upon  what  we  do  ? 
Shall  we  pay  our  debt  to  the  ages  past?  To  po.sterity 
that  debt  is  to  be  paid.  Dare  we,  ownng  so  much,  leave 
our  debts  unpaid  ? 


Ah,  no!  This  age  will  not  go  into  moral  bankruptcy 
— it  knows  too  well  the  love  of  Christ  and  will  gladly  pay 
its  debt  to  Christianity. 

And  thus  we  have  a  good  hope  in  the  progressive 
future  of  Presbyterianism. 


121 
T*ve.  t:e«tenrii.xl    Ode,    Writtera    by    Mr.    JoHtv 
'       Reeves,  of  Philadelphia,   was    Read 
l5y  His   Brother,  James   J. 
Reeves,  Ksq. 

We  sing  of  times  one  hundred  years  ago, 

Not  far  from  where  Cohansey  waters  flow, 

Where  Nature's  laws  fair  Bridge-town's  sons  obeyed, 

And  monarchs  were  of  all  that  they  surveyed; 

When  tallow  candles  and  their  flickering  light 

Made  visible  the  darkness  of  the  night; 

When  people  rose  at  voice  of  early  bird;- 

Children  were  seen,  but  not  so  often  heard; 

Parents  enforced  the  written  Word  of  God,  ^ 

And  felt  how  dangerous  'twas  to  'spare  the  rod. 

Not  >  et  in  bloom  was  "higher  criticism;" 

Their  only  ism  was  the  Catech  ism. 

Those  pious  souls,  anticipating  glory 

Oft  to  their  little  ones  rehearsed  the  story 

Of  man's  first  disobedience,  and  the  Tree;- 

Its  baleful  fruit,— and  the  apostasy. 

They  told  of  Noah's  flood,  ah,  sad  indeed! 

They  told  how  Moses  led  the  Chosen  Seed;- 

Of  Abraham,  who  lofty  faith  obtained;- 

Sarah  his  wife,  who  angels  entertained; 

And  how  the  Lord  by  hand  of  Gideon 

Defeated  all  the  host  of  Midian; 

How  David  slew  Goliath  with  a  stone. 

And  rose  irom  Sheep-cote  to  the  Jewish  Throne; 

Of  King  Belshazzar  and  his  overthrow; 

Of  Shadrach,  Meshach  and  Abed-nego; 

How  Daniel  from  the  wrath  of  kings  and  priests. 

Was  saved  alive,  tho'  in  a  den  of  beasts 

They  told  of  Bethlehem's  star,-how,  on  the  plain, 

The  shepherds  watched  and  saw  the  heavenly  tram 

That  heralded  the  infant  Saviour's  birth. 

That  brought  good-will  and  peace  upon  the  earth. 

The  Word  of  God  was  their  supreme  delight, 

In  which  they  meditated  day  and  night. 


122 

Their  books  were  few,  and  very  highly  prized; 
Good  "Watts'  Psalms  and  Hymns"  they  memorized, 

The  'English  Reader'  and  the  'Martyrs  Book' 
Adorned  a  shelf  in  many  a  household  nook. 
And  when  the  Sabbath  came,  best  day  in  seven, 
The  Pilgrim's  Progress  show'd  the  way  to  Heaven. 

Few  luxuries  redeem'd  their  frugal  meal; 
They  wove  their  garments  on  the  spinning  wheel. 
And  when  the  sun  went  down— on  chilly  night, 
The  open  fireplace  gave  them  warmth  and  light. 
They  took  their  foot  stoves  to  the  Hou-^e  of  Prayer, 
And  if  their  feet  were  cold,  they  warmed  them  there. 

They  rear'd  large  families,  those  ancient  dames, 
Both  boys  and  girls,  and  gave  them  scripture  names 
And  when,  at  length,  with  zealous  impulse  thrilled, 
They  heard  the  voice  of  God— "Arise  and  build," 
The  people  promptly  met  the  exigence; 
Men  of  small  means  but  large  beneficence, 
Poured  freely  forth  their  shillings  and  their  pence; 
While  many  pounds  from  heavier  purses  flowed, 
And  one  Good  "Friend"  an  ample  lot  bestowed. 

God  gave  Trustees— The  Elmers,  Potter,  Giles;— 
Good,  faithful  stewards  built  the  solid  piles, 
This  lofty  pulpit  and  these  brick  paved  aisles. 
God  gave  them  ministers  of  sterling  stuff"; 
He  gave  his  people  Kennedy,  and  Hoff; 
Clarkson,  and  Freeman, — nor  was  this  enough;  — 
He    raised  up  Maxwell,  Gregory,  and  Jones, 
And  Brodhead,  and,  with  condescension  owns 
The  words  they  spake  with  many  prayers  and  tears 
Along  the  pathway  of  these  hundred  years. 
When  I  remember  men  of  God, 

Who  yonder  pulpit  steps  have  trod, 
My  spirit  humbly  gladly  owns, 
How  much  I  owe  to  Dr.  Jones. 

We  venerate  the  man  because 

Of  what  he  said,  and  what  he  was; 


123 

We  listen'd  to  his  reverent  tones, 
And  loved  and  honored  Dr.  Jones. 

Whene'er  tlie  Sabbath  day  came  round, 
His  pulpit  rang  with  doctrine  sound; 
Milk,  meat,  and  marrow  from  the  bones. 
We  all  received  from  Doctor  Jones. 

Our  fathers  dwelt  in  sweet  accord. 
Led  honest  lives  and  served  the  Lord; — 
True,  valiant  men,  and  never  drones, 
Held  up  the  hands  of  Doctor  Jones. 

We  love  the  church — our  father's  name 
Is  linked  with  her  untarnished  fame; 
Their  sons  take  pleasure  in  her  stones. 
For  Zion's  sake — and  Doctor  Jones'. 

We  hear  our  pastor,  Mr.  Beach, 
The  same  old,  blessed  Gospel  preach. 
And  sound  abroad  in  fervid  tones, 
The  truths  once  taught  by  Doctor  Jones. 

When  earthly  toils  and  pains  are  past, 

May  each  and  all  of  us  at  last, 

Forever  free  from  sighs  and  moans. 

In  Heaven's  pure  light,  see  Doctor  Jones. 

What  shall  we  say  of  h's  successor. 

The  late  lamented,  wise  Professor 

In  Lincoln  University — 

Dear  Doctor  Caspar  Gregory  ? 

Firm,  loyal  to  the  truth,  decided, 

Our  dear  young  men  he  wisely  guided 

And  in  their  councils  oft  presided. 

With  wonderful  vivacity. 

And  musical  capacity, 

He  sought  to  make  us  meet  to  sing 

The  praises  of  our  Heavenly  King. 

With  blest  revivals,  rich,  and  free, 

God  crowned  his  nine  year's  ministry. 

Good  Doctor  Maxwell  next  was  sent. 

In  whom  were  grace  and  wisdom  blent. 


124 

Like  Him  who  came  from  Heaven  to  earth. 

He  shared  our  griefs  and  joined  our  mirth. 

With  an  indomitable  zeal 

He  labored  for  the  public  weal. 

In  works  abundant,  self-denying; 

And  always  preached  to  edifying. 

Let  Dr.  Brodhead's  name  be  known 

For  erudition  not  a'lone; 

His  bright  example  round  us  shone; 

'Twas  his  to  live  from  day  to  day 

To  brighten  worlds,  and  lead  the  way. 

The  cause  of  Missions  he  promoted, 

To  which  his  life  had  been  devoted. 

Oh  !  why,  to-day,  should  not  our  hearts  rejoice 

In  this  beloved  Pastor  of  our  choice? 

A  man  of  "faith  unfeigned"  and  "apt  to  teach," 

A  '  Bishop  blameless"— temperate  in  his  speech, 

Our  faithful  Sylvester  W.  Beach. 

With  gratitude  we  ought  to  mention 
What  has  been  done  for  church  extension 
Wivhiu  our  borders,— where  we  see 
Two  branches  from  the  Parent  tree. 
Our  brother  Beadle  proudly  stands 
For  Love  and  Truth  in  Gospel  bands. 
Meets  well  the  duties  of  each  hour; 
Improves  with  age,  and  staying  power; 
Each  Sabbath  sees  a  happy  throng 
That 'crowd  his  gates  with  thankful  song.' 

The  Providence  of  God  has  smiled 
Upon  our  Church's  younger  child. 
Her  Temple  is  most  beautiful. 
Her  loyal  children— dutiful. 
Her  Pastor — on  the  roll  of  fame 
Inscribe  our  Mr   Bridges'  name. 
■  Long  may  he  live,  and,  in  his  place 
Proclaim  God's  iree  and  bounteous  grace. 
Within  these  walls,  in  many  a  high-backed  seat, 
Our  predecessors  held  communion  sweet. 


125 

Lifting  their  eyes  toward  the  Heavenly  place, 

Invoking  blessings  on  their  rising  race. 

Pleading  His  Promises  of  Truth  and  Grace, 

They  bow'd  their  souls,  and  humbly  sought  His  face. 

This  was  the  'House  of  God'  and  here  'twas  given 

To  many  souls  to  be  the  'Gate  of  Heaven.' 

Oh!  God  of  Bethel  !  in  each  tutie  of  need, 

Our  sons  and  daughters  wilt  Thou  safely  lead, 

And  with  supplies  of  Heavenly  Manna  feed, 

God  of  our  Fathers,  humbly,  trustingly, 

Our  Church's  future  would  we  leave  with  Thee. 

Let  Strength  and  Wisdom  on  our  sons  descend, 

TlU'  perfect  Beauty  to  our  daughters  lend, 

And  crown  them  all  with  Glorv  at  the  end. 


126 

The  Remarks  of  Rrancis  B.  Reeves,  of 
Rlnilaclelplnia. 

"In  a  private  letter,  inviting  me  to  this  celebration, 
the  occasion  was  spoken  of  as  '  'The  Centennial  of  Bridge- 
ton  Presbyterianism."  It  may  not  have  been. thought 
of  the  writer  that  the  Presbyterianism  of  Bridgeton  is  a 
distant  type  of  that  article,  but  the  expression  suggests 
the  question  whether  there  are  not  such  distinguishing 
characteristics  in  the  Presbyterianism  of  this  place  as 
entitle  it  to  special  consideration,  and  all  honor  that  may 
be  accorded  to  it  on  this  hundredth  anniversary  day. 

"This  at  least  may  be  said — that  the  Presbyterianism 
of  Bridgeton  is  representative  of  the  original  and  genuine, 
and  that  here  may  be  witnessed  a  culture,  growth  and 
fruitage,  under  conditions  altogether  favorable,  and 
therefore  successful. 

'•And  as  it  cannot  be  claimed  that  the  church  here  has 
been  built  upon  any  other  foundation  than  that  which  is 
common  to  the  churches  of  our  faith  everywhere,  the 
"Confession  of  Faith"  and  the  "Shorter  Catechism"  be- 
ing the  common  inheritance  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
at  large,  we  shall  have  to  look  for  other  than  purely 
doctrinal  causes  to  account  for  any  apparent  special  bless- 
ings that  have  fallen  upon  Bridgeton  Presbyterianism. 
We  find  them  in  the  character  and  lives  of  the  men  and 
women  whose  names  have  been  written  here. 

'  'The  Master  has  honored  this  Church  with  consecrated 
instrumentalities  for  carrying  forward  His  work.  This 
vine  of  His  planting  has  been  fruitful,  because  men  of 
rare  spiritual  endowment  have  watched  and  nurtured  it 
ill  faith,  with  prayer.  There  has  been  faithful  sowing, 
good  seed,  and  good  ground,  conditions  that  inevitably 
lead  to  gracious  results.     This  old  Church  is  fairly  repre- 


127 

sented  in  the  8th  verse  of  the  13th  chapter  of  St.  Matthew's 
gospel,  for  have  we  not  the  record  of  her  fruitage,  some- 
time thirty  fold,  sometime  sixty  fold,  and  sometime  an 
hundred  fold? 

"Of  the  husbandmen,  the  seed  sowers,  who  have  min- 
istered to  the  generations  of  God's  people  here,  you  have 
heard  or  will  hear  much  to-da}-.  Some  of  us  hold  the 
treasures  of  a  personal  knowledge  of  half  the  century  as 
a  priceless  legacj^;  and  to  some,  a  verj-  few,  to-day's  his- 
torical recital  will  be  the  revival  of  happy  recollections 
of  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  of  that  long  period.  To 
all  these,  come  back  to-day,  blessed  memories  of  a  father 
or  perhaps  a  mother,  who.se  strong  devotion,  prudent 
coun.sel  and  Godly  life  upheld  the  hands  and  cheered  the 
hearts  of  the  shepherds  of  the  flock.  I  speak  no  names; 
they  are  chiseled  upon  yonder  blocks  of  marble;  they  are 
yet  more  deep!}'  graven  upon  the  tablets  of  our  hearts. 

'  'Naturally  enough  then,  we  have  found  in  this  church, 
where  the  seed  sown  has  been  the  pure  word  of  God,  in 
its  simplicity,  no  worthless  cumbering  weed-crop  of  a 
superstitious  adhesion  to  mere  human  devices  for  propa- 
gating our  holy  religion,  but  a  regularly  recurring 
harvest  of  golden  grain,  the  fruit  of  right  believing  and 
of  well  doing. 

"Carried  thence  into  homes,  bright  with  God's  praise, 
where  the  master  loved  to  linger,  in  sacred  hours  when 
heaven  and  earth  seemed  to  meet,  these  golden  sheaves 
have  been  transformed  into  the  ver^'  Bread  of  Life.  And 
the  children  have  been  fed.  'These  are  they  which,  in 
an  honest  and  good  heart,  having  heard  the  word,  kept 
it,  and  brought  forth  fruit  with  patience. ' 

"If  I  am  asked  for  the  secret  of  the  power  of  this  time 
honored  Church,  I  shall  say  it  is  the  Church  in  the  home, 


128 

the  Bible  in  the  family,  the  Shorter  Catechism  and 
"Psalms  and  Hymns"  by  the  fireside.  I  speak  not  as  a 
theorist  but  from  experience  when  I  tell  of  the  clearness 
and  forcibleness  of  a  father's  inculcation  of  the  essential 
principles  of  the  law  of  God,  in  a  family  where  none 
thought  of  pleading  either  youth  or  age  as  an  excuse  for 
not  submitting  to  the  regular  weekly  examination  in  the . 
Shorter  Catechism;  in  a  home  where  the  Sabbath  was 
sanctified  by  a  Holy  resting  all  that  day,  even  from  such 
worldly  employments  and  recreations  as  were  lawful  on 
other  days,  and  where  all  its  hours  were  spent  in  the 
public  and  private  exercises  of  God's  worship,  except  so 
much  as  was  taken  up  in  works  of  necessit}^  and  mercy. 
'  'A  great  company  of  witnesses  can  thus  testify  of  the 
power  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  as  it  has  been  preached 
here  through  all  these  years  Other  Christian  churches, 
bearing  different  names,  have  wrought  grandly,  and 
have  every  right  to  bear  the  palms  of  victory  and  crowns 
of  glory  with  the  Presbyterians,  but  ever  these,  our 
brethren,  will,  I  believe,  bear  cheerful  testimony  to  the 
beneficent  influence  of  this  old  church,  not  only  within 
the  bounds  of  her  own  communion,  but  upon  the  entire 
community  and  upon  the  character  and  upon  the  very 
name  of  Bridg:eton. ' ' 


129 
Prom   Al^sent  Prieiicls.     Kindlj'   Words  or 
Greetings  Sent  to  tine  Centennial. 

Many  letters   of  deep  interest,  full  of  kindly  greeting 
and  expressing  regret  that  the  writers  were  unable  to  be 
present,  were  received  from  absent  friends.      It  was  not 
possible  to  read  all  of  them  at  the  celebration,  because  of 
a  lack  of  time,  but  the  greater  part  of  them  were  heard, 
and  they  formed  a   feature  of  the  celebration  which   was 
especially  pleasing  to  the  vast  throng  of  listeners; 
From  Dr.  S.  Beach  Jones. 
S..   Beach  Jones,    M.   D.,  wrote  from    Nahant,  Massa- 
chussetts,  July  i6th: 

"Please  accept  from  my  brother  Chester  and  myself  our 
very  sincere  thanks  for  the  kind  invitation  to  be  present 
at  the  Centennial  Celebration  to  take  place  on  the  26th. 
Unfortunately  it  will  be  impossible  for  us  to  do  so,  as 
Chester  and  I  leave  here  for  Canada  next  Monday,  and 
my  brother  Ralston  writes  me  that  he  is  extremely  busy 
at  this  time.  Will  you  express  to  the  committee  our 
appreciation  of  their  courteous  invitation." 


Fro:m  Rev.  Jos.  W.  Hubbard. 

Rev.  Joseph  W.  Hubbard,  once  pastor  of  .he  Second 
Presbyterian  Church,  wrote  as  follows: 

"My  Dear  Friends  of  Other  Days — I  borrow  another 
voice  while  I  make  my  iniproinptu  speech. 

"It  is  more  than  thirty-five  years  since  I  entered  into 
the  labors  of  Revs.  H.  J.  VanDyke  and  \Vm.  E.  Baker 
and  Peter  B.  Heroy,  and  became  for  eight  years  a  small 
part  of  the  Presbyterianism  of  Bridgeton. 

"I  used  to  think  the  Second  Church  a  healthy  place 
for  pastors,  as  none  ever  died  there.  My  patriarchal 
successor  knows  a  good  thing  when  he  sees  it.     Having 


struck  a  healthy  work  he  is  like  the  son  of  Erin  who 
said;  'If  I  only  knew  a  place  where  they  never  died  I 
would  go  thereto  end  mj^  days.'  If  Bro.  B.  ever  resigns 
I  shall  know  he  is  tired  of  life. 

"O,  the  golden  days  of  the  long  ago,  happy  with  such 
pleasant  surroundings. 

"We  were  happ)^  in  viinisterial  surroundings — Father 
Osborn,  just  ready  to  fall  asleep;  Dr.  Kollock,  Dr.  Jones, 
Dr.  Janvier,  the  ubiquitous  Allen  H.  Brown,  who  could 
cover  West  j  ersey  and  spare  enough  to  lap  over  the  rest 
of  the  State,  and  the  saintly  Stratton,  and  the  j^ounger 
brethren,  Shields  and  Davis  and  Stew^art  and  Gregory, 
and  a  score  of  others  whom  I  see  to-da3^ 

"What  a  good  old  home  was  this  for  the  bo3\s  who 
had  gone  out  from  our  neighborhood  to  the  Master's 
work  ! 

"And  how  nice  for  the  pastors,  and  doubl}' nice  for 
the  people,  when  they  filled  the  old  pulpits.  There  were 
the  Strattons,  three,  and  the  Westcotts,  and  the  Joneses, 
and  the  Reeveses,  and  the  Jameses,  and  Whiticar,  and 
Husted,  and  Burt,  and  J.  Howard  Nixon,  and  I  don't 
know  how  many  more. 

"Happy  were  we  in  our  surroundings.  The  fathers 
who  have  fallen  asleep — shall  we  ever  see  their  like  again  ? 

"They  were  grand  old  dyed-in-the-wool  Presbyterians. 

"Happy  were  we  with  the  3'oung  men  and  the  boys. 

"Some  have  fallen  at  their  tasks.  Some  went  forth 
and  died  that  their  countr}-  might  not  perish.  Some  are 
standing  in  their  lot  to-day,  fit  representatives  of  their 
fathers  and  fit  exponents  of  the  Presbyterianism  which 
made  this  town  and  marked  the  State. 

"May  another  centennial  find  the  same  loyal  names 
and  spirits  perpetuated. 


131 

"Long  since  passed  the  day  when  the  great  congrega- 
tion came  hither  to  worship.  But  how  often  have  we 
paused  here  and  then  trodden  the  narrow  streets  of  this 
ever  growing  city  of  the  dead,  as  we  laid  down  the  beloved 
dust  to  wait  the  Saviour's  call. 

"I  greet  you  all  to-day  on  this  spot  where  we  have  so 
man}^  kindred  ties. 

"If  on  the  resurrection  morn  there  shall  be  a  pause  for 
retrospection,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  reunited  bodies  and 
spirits  we  have  loved  so  tenderly  will  pause  a  moment  to 
bless  God  for  such  an  earthly  name,  and  such  a  hallowed 
resting-place." 


From  Mayor  Stuart. 

Maj'or  Edwin  S.  Stuart,  of  Philadelphia,  wrote  as  fol- 
lows, under  date  of  July  20th: 

"I  sincerely  regret  my  inability  to  accept  3'our  kind 
invitation  to  be  present  at  the  One  Hundredth  Anniver- 
sary of  t'.ie  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Bridgeton,  N.  J.,  owing  to  a  number  of  offi- 
cial engagements  for  the  26th  inst.,  which  will  prevent 
my  absence  from  the  city. 

"Your  church  is  to  be  congratulated  on  having  pre- 
served its  vitality  through  so  long  a  period,  and  I  trust 
that  the  second  century  of  its  existence  will  be  marked 
by  a  greater  degree  of  prosperity,  and  that  its  work  for 
the  good  of  the  communit}^  will  not  be  hampered  or 
checked  in  any  manner. ' ' 


From  Congressman  Bergen. 
Congressman  Christopher  A.   Bergen  wrote  from  the 
House  of  Representatives,  at  Washington,  as  follows: 
'  'Your  very  kind  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  one 


I';2 


hundredth  anniversary  of  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Bridgeton,  came  to  hand, 
and  I  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  be  present  with  3^ou  at  the 
time.  I  now  find  that  my  public  duties  will  prevent.  I 
regret  this  the  more  because  reared  in  that  faith  I  enjo}'- 
every  monument  of  its  perpetuity.  Thanking  you  for 
my   invitation,  with  renewed  assurance  I   remain,"  &c. 


From  Rkv.  Dr.  Wm.  H.  James. 

From  Spring  Dale,  Ohio,  came  the  following  extremely 
interesting  epistle  from  Rev.  Dr.  William  H.  James: 

"I  have  received  a  kind  invitation  to  attend  a  Centen- 
nial Celebration  to  be  held  in  Bridgeton,  New  Jersey,  on 
the  26th  of  this  month,  in  connection  with  the  old  Broad 
Street  Presbyterian  Church.  It  would  afford  me  much 
pleasure  to  be  present,  but  on  account  of  the  fact  that  I 
have  just  returned  from  a  visit  of  two  months  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  I  shall  be  unable  to  do  so. 

"On  the  nth  day  of  December,  1849,  I  went  to  Bridge- 
ton  to  live.  The  next  Sabbath  after  my  arrival  I  went 
to  the  Sabbath  School  which  was  held  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  session  house  or  lecture  room,  when  it  stood  on 
the  corner  of  the  street.  I  entered  the  class  taught  by 
Mr.  Joseph  Reeves,  and  remained  in  it  for  some  years. 
Hon.    L.    Q-    C.  Elmer  was   the  Superintendent  at  that 

time. 

"On  the  8th  day  of  March,  1853,  I  united  with  the 
First  Church  on  profession  of  faith  under  the  ministra- 
tion of  Rev.  S.  B.  Jones,  D.  D.  Not  very  long  after  this 
I  was  invited  to  t2ach  a  Sunday  School  class  which  was 
held  in  the  old  Broad  Street  Presbyterian  Church.  Hon. 
John  T.  Nixon  was  the  Superintendent.  I  well  remem- 
ber the  emotion  with  which  I  was  filled  when  he  asked 


00 


me  to  take  a  class  in  his  school.  I  ^vas  but  a  youth,  and 
had  never  taught  a  class  up  to  this  time.  He  gave  me  a 
class  of  verv  small  children.  It  was  composed  of  the 
second  and  third  sons  ofDr.  Wm.  Elmer,  Sr.,  the  son  of 
Mr  Charles  Elmer,  the  older  son  of  Mr.  Wm.  G.  Nixon 
Ind  Ed.  Fithian.  I  was  delighted  with  my  class  and  I 
think  I  never  had  a  class  that  has  done  better  m  hfe  or 
has  developed  more  true  manliness  than  that  class  has 
done,  from  all  I  have  been  able  to  hear. 

"In  the  fall  of  1856,  in  the  month  of  September,  I  left 
Bridgeton  to  enter  upon  study  for  the  gospel  ministry 
This  occupied  nine  solid  years  of  my  life.  I  graduated 
from  Princeton  Seminary  in  the  spring  of  1865  and  was 
at  once  invited  to  be  the  assistant  pastor  o^f^'^-^-J^' 
Burt  D  D.,in  the  Seventh  Presbyterian  Church,  Cin- 
cinnati.'   (Dr.    Burt's  early  home  was  in  Fairton,  New 

^"'lu"\he  year   1866,   July    29th,    I    entered  upon   my 
work  in  the  church  where  I  now  labor.     Next  Sabbath 
week  will  complete  twenty-six  years  ^^ -y  pastorate  her 
Last   year   the   25th  anniversary  was  celebrated  m  the 
church.     You  will  find  an  account  of  it  enclosed. 

"I  wonder  if  any  other  person  who   taught  ni  the  old 
Broad  Street  Sunday  School  m  1845  is  now  l^vmg  • 

"As  you  will  be  recording  the  history  of  early  times  I 
will  tell  you  how  far  my  memory  goes  back.  I  can  dis- 
tinctly remember  Rev.  Ethan  Osborn  as  he  stood  m  the 
pulpit  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Deerfield  one 
Ilbbathin  my  early  childhood.  I  --m^- ^^' J-^;;^; 
who  was  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Pitts- 
grove.  I  remember  Rev.  Mr.  Helm  of  Salem,  Re^^  S 
K  Kollock,  of  Greenwich,  and  also  Rev.  I.  W.  E.  Kerr, 
who  was  afterward  pastor  of  the  same  church. 


134 
"I  hope  you  will  have  a  pleasant  and  enjoyable  time 
and  that  you  will  send  me  an  account  of  the  proceedings 
that  I  may  also  rejoice  wth  you  all." 


From  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  B.  Stratton. 

From  way  off  in  Natchez,  Mississippi,  the  mails  brougth 
to  the  Corresponding  Secretary,  Mr.  James  J.  Reeves, 
this  beautiful  letter  from  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  B.  Stratton,  so 
well  known  in  this  the  home  of  his  younger  days  : 

"I  cannot  tell  you  how  my  heart  strings  throbbed  in 
response  to  your  call.  It  is  with  sincere  and  profound 
regret  that  I  have  to  conclude  that  I  cannot  participate 
with  you  in  the  enjoyments  and  benefits  of  this  most 
interesting  centennial. 

"There  are  few  objects  belonging  to  my  native  town 
that  are  more  distinctly  engraved  upon  my  memory  than 
is  this  dear  old  church.  I  can  see  everything  included 
in  its  architecture  and  furniture,  and  everybody  who  used 
to  fill  its  seats  or  be  concerned  in  its  exercises,  with  the 
vividness  of  literal  vision. 

"I  can  recall  the  venerable  form  of  Mr.  Freeman  as  it 
used  to  appear  above  the  pulpit  when  he  rose  to  com- 
mence worship.  I  remember  the  old  precentors  who  led 
the  music,  and  then  the  choir  who  succeeded  them.  I 
can  see  Elder  Enoch  Moore  going  up  to  the  pulpit  with 
a  Bible  and  hymn  book  in  his  hands,  when  the  minister 
was  absent,  to  conduct  service  for  the  congregation. 

"To  my  young  imagination  it  somehow  seemed  as  if 
the  holy  place  were  peopled  with  angels,  and  I  am  sure 
now,  as  I  recall  it  to  view  and  yield  my  mind  to  the  asso- 
ciations with  which  it  is  filled,  I  may  say  it  is  peopled 
with  angels  still. 

"The  first  sermon  I  can  remember,  was  one  preached 


135 
in  that  church  by  good  old  Mr.  Samuel   Lawrence,    on 
the  Parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son.     Perhaps  the  seed  sown 
then,    in    a    child's    heart  lived  and  helped    to  bring  a 
prodigal  home  in  subsequent  ^-ears. 

"When  the  new  church  was  dedicated  in  1836,  I  was 
present  and  recollect  the  impressive  sermon  of  Dr.  John 
Breckenridge.  Rev.  Samuel  G.  Winchester,  then  pastor 
of  a  church  in  Philadelphia,  was  in  attendance  also  on 
the  occasion,  and  preached  a  sermon  at  night,  which  to 
ni}^  mind  and  that  of  Henry  T.  EUett,  who  was  sitting 
with  me  had  ponderous  power.  Mr.  Winchester  subse- 
quently accepted  a  call  to  the  church  at  Natchez  and 
served  it  for  the  last  three  years  of  his  life.  How  little 
I,  an  ambitious  young  law  student  then  dreamed  that 
the  time  would  come  when  I  should  be  his  successor  as 
the  pastor  of  the  church  in  this  distant  Southern  city. 

"I  must  stop  these  reminiscences  or  I  shall  grow  heart 
sick  at  the  necessitj^  Providential  as  it  clearly  seems, 
which  forbids  me  to  be  with  you.  Your  letter  brought 
to  my  mind  some  lines  which  I  once  (in  1837)  wrote  in 
the  album  of  a  lady  who  resided  some  years  in  Bridgeton 
and  was  subsequently  married  and  lived  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  depicting  some  of  the  scenes  and  objects 
about  the  old  place,  which  we  had  both  loved.  She  sent 
me  a  cop}^  of  them  long  years  after  I  had  been  settled  at 
Natchez.  They  are  nothing  but  juvenile  verses,  but 
show  the  veneration  of  a  young  heart  for  the  old  sanctu- 
ary. (If  your  letter  had  not  thrown  me  into  rather  a 
gushing  mood  I  should  never  have  thought  of  trans- 
cribing them.)     I  extract  from  the  effusion  the  following: 

Here  midst  these  oaks,  whose  spreading  limbs 
For  years  have  echoed  with  the  hymns 
Of  pious  praise,  the  Church,  scarce  seen 


136 

Through  the  dark  leaves'  surrounding  green. 

Its  ancient  pile  uprears.     No  spot 

That  zeal  e'er  chose,  no  cell  or  grot 

Of  monkish  days,  seemed  better  formed 

To  lead  the  soul,  devotion-warmed, 

From  this  low  world  to  things  above  ! 

For  here,  within  this  peaceful  grove. 

The  sound  of  toil,  the  busy  hum 

Of  wordly  tumults  never  come. 

But  ceaseless  Silence  reigns  around 

And  clothes  with  awe  the  sacred  ground. 

How  oft  upon  this  tranquil  air 

The  song  of  praise  hath  sweetly  broke  ! 

How  oft  a  pastor's  fervent  prayer 

In  pleading  accents  here  hath  spoke  ! 

Along  these  walks,  within  these  aisles, 

For  years  the  village  fathers  trod; 

And  winter's  storms,  or  summer's  smiles, 

Ne'er  stole  one  Sabbath  from  their  God. 

Alas  !  how  changed  the  prospect  now. 

Within  those  walls  no  longer  bow 

That  reverent  crowd  !     Along  these  walks 

With  fearless  step  the  wild  bird  stalks  ! 

Amidst  these  trees  no  echo  wakes, 

No  solemn  strain  their  silence  breaks; 

But  crowd,  hymn  and  prayer  are  gone, 

And  Nature  worships  here  along. 

"Excuse  me  for  this  long  letter,"  concluded  Dr. 
Stratton,  and  remember  that  in  writing  it  I  have  been  a 
boy  again." 


George  W.  Childs. 
In  behalf  of  Mr.  George  W.   Childs,  the  proprietor  of 
that  great  journal,  the  Public  Ledger,  Mr.  Addison  Ban- 
croft  wrote  a  letter  from  which  the  following  extracts 
are  made: 


137 

"It  would  give  Mr.  Childs  great  pleasure  to  be  present 
at  the  celebration  of  the  centennial  of  Presbyterianisni  in 
Bridgeton,  but  he  finds  so  many  duties  pressing  upon 
him  just  now  that  he  is  compelled  to  forego  this  pleasure. 

'  'A  visit  to  Bridgeton  and  the  old  Presbyterian  Church 
cemetery  would  revive  in  memory  some  very  precious 
associations  of  the  past.  He  was  long  acquainted  with 
Rev.  Dr.  Jones  during  his  pastorate  in  Bridgeton  and 
always  enjoyed  the  Doctor's  frequent  visits  at  his  office 
in  Philadelphia. 

"Wm.  G.  Shannon  was  a  young  man,  clerk  in  a  large 
importing  house  in  Philadelphia  and  one  of  Mr.  Childs" , 
as  well  as  my  own  very  early  acquaintances  in  Philadel- 
phia. Young  Shannon  connected  himself  with  the 
Presbj'terian  church  and  became  one  of  the  most  earnest, 
faithful  Christian  j'oung  men  in  Philadelphia.  His 
health  failed,  he  visited  the  South  to  spend  the  winter 
with  friends,  where  he  died  thirty-eight  years  ago.  He 
was  buried  at  Bridgeton.  Mr.  Childs  proposed  at  once 
the  erection  of  a  monument.  With  his  contribution 
together  with  those  of  Mr.  Shannon's  employers  and 
other  friends,  it  was  accomplished.  This  was  only  a 
beginning  with  Mr.  Childs,  as  he  has  since  been  erecting 
monuments  (not  all  in  marble)  all  over  our  land  and  in 
several  other  lands. 

Mr.  Childs  is  now,  through  family  connections,  identi- 
fied with  the  Episcopal.  His  earlier  associations  for 
many  years  were  with  the  Presbyterians.  -'^  '^'  *  Thus 
after  being  so  thoroughly  schooled  under  Presbyterian 
influence  we  may  very  safely  trust  him  to  the  care  of 
other  denominations. 

"He  is  acquainted  with  j^our  Elder  Reeves'  sons,  and 
several   other   families   long    resident    in    Philadelphia, 


138 

representing  Bridgeton's  sons,  have  given  him  a  very 
decided  impression  in  favor  of  Bridgeton  Presbyterianism. 

"I  have  been  among  our  business  men  in  Philadelphia 
for  the  past  50  years.  I  have  often  remarked  that 
Bridgeton,  to  my  knowledge  and  acquaintance,  has  sent 
forth  in  business  and  professional  walks  of  life,  more 
young  men  carrying  with  them  a  consistent  Christian 
influence  than  any  other  town  I  have  ever  known. 

"May  the  remembrance  of  those  who  have  gone  before 
and  the  blessed  associations  with  which  you  will  be  sur- 
rounded on  thetwent3'^-sixth,  give  you  all  a  fresh  inspira- 
tion and  a  strong  impulse  to  continue  in  the  great  work 
which  the  lyord  has  given  you  to  do,  winning  souls  for 
Christ  ' ' 


From  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Belden. 

Fiom  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Belden,  formerly  of  the  West 
Church,  came  the  subjoined  letter.  "Clifton  Springs, 
New  York,  June  23,"  was  the  date  line: 

"I  thank  you  heartily  for  your  invitation  to  the  Bridge- 
ton  Presbyterian  Centennial,  which,  however,  my  health 
will  not  allow  of  my  accepting.  "I  am  accustomed  to 
think  of  the  transmission  of  the  Christian  witness  by 
miins  of  t',12  sacraaiitit  of  the  lyOrd's  Supper,  from  gen- 
eration to  generation,  as  similar  to  that  familiar  scene  in 
civil  courts  where  reputable  persons,  subpoenaed  to  prove 
a  case,  depose  that  to  the  best  of  their  knowledge  and 
belief,  the  story  of  Jesus  Christ  is  true.  It  has  been  the 
supreme  external  evidence  upon  which  Christendom  has 
rested  its  case  for  these  nineteen  hundred  years.  Your 
centennial  festival  of  Tuesday  will  repeat  the  evidence 
of  this  testimony  as  made  and  continued  for  a  hundred 
years  past  in  our  own  town.     To   recount  such  a  histor}- 


139 

is   a  grateful   task   indeed.     I   hope    that    the   privilege 
may  seem  great  and  fruitful  to  you  all." 

From  Rev.  Epher  Whitaker: 
Under  date  of  July  19,   Rev.    Epher   Whitaker  sent  a 
communication    from   Southold,    N.  Y.,   from  which  we 

make  an  extract: 

The  celebration  itself  accords  with  my  taste  and  mi- 
judgment  of  its  desirableness.  It  would  delight  me  to 
be  present  if  mv  duties  at  home  would  permit.  Unhap- 
pily they  will  not.  I  beg  to  send  my  congratulations  m 
view  of  the  history  of  the  century,  and  my  best  wishes 

for  time  to  come.  . 

-I  have  reason  to  be  extremly  thankful  for  the  history 
which  vou  review.  There  will  not  be  an  hundred  per- 
sons present  whose  worship  in  the  Broad  Street  Church 
beo-an  at  a  remoter  point  of  time  than  my  own.  My 
earliest  recollections  of  public  worship  are  associated 
with  two  places  only:  the  old  stone  church  of  Fairfield 
and  the  Broad  street  church  of  Bridgeton.  The  former 
edifice  is  but  fifteen  years  older  than  the  latter.  My 
worship  in  the  Broad  Street  Church  began  early  m  the 
year  iS-^e  ^-  *  *  While  my  indebtedness  to  Elder 
Francis  G  Brewster  is  immeasureable.  the  benign  influ- 
ence of  the  Broad  Street  Church,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
Second  Church,  upon  my  character  and  course  has  not 
ceased  Doubtless  it  will  continue  forever.  My  grate- 
ful recollections  will  therefore  be  with  you  during  the 
celebration." 


140 
Impromptu  Remarks  by  Visitors. 

In  the  morning  Rev.  C.  A.  R.  Janvier,  lately  returned 
from  India,  Rev.  Dr.  Rollin  A.  Sawyer,  of  the  New  York 
Evangelist,  and  the  aged  Hon.  Jonathan  Ogden  were 
among  the  speakers.  The  words  of  the  latter  are  here 
given  in  full: 

"On  the  fifth  day  of  September  in  the  j'ear  1831,  I  left 
my  village  home  of  less  than  two  thousand  inhabitants, 
in  Bridgeton.  An  inconspicuous  event  in  itself,  but  of 
profound  importance  to  the  part)^  of  the  first  part.  Two 
generations  of  men  have  come  and  gone  since  that  day, 
with  all  their  hopes,  fears  and  anticipations.  To  be 
permitted  to  revisit  it  after  so  long  an  interval,  and  under 
the  circumstances  and  surroundings  of  this  Centennial 
Celebration,  with  all  that  it  implies,  is  a  culmination  in  a 
single  life  to  stir  the  blood  and  quicken  the  pulses  of 
even  eighty-two  and  a  half  years. 

"It  is  a  marvel  to  find  the  village  grown  into  a  cit}'  of 
over  12,000  inhabitants,  retaining  its  primeval  attach- 
ment to  all  that  was  true  and  good  in  its  early  history. 
Morality  and  Religion,  keeping  pace  with  progress  and 
expansion,  in  the  directions  of  education,  culture  and 
refinement,  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  make  its  sons  feel, 
wherever  they  may  be,  that  it  is  an  honor  to  have  been 
born  there.  The  honor  (or  otherwise)  in  my  own  case, 
belongs  to  Fairton,  an  unpretentious  town,  as  you  all 
know,  about  four  miles  south  on  the  Cohanse}-  river. 

"My  personal  acquaintance  with  the  people  of  the  city 
is  almost  gone.  Jvidge  Woodruff  who  has  recently  died, 
was  the  last  of  my  old  school  fellows  and  a  better  boy. 
I  had  planned  to  have  him  visit  me  last  year  but  was  not 
able  to  accomplish  it,  much  to  my  regret. 

"The  mute  memorials  of  this  celebration,  its  holy  asso- 


141 

ciations  and  blessed  nieniories.  The  liunian  eye  over  the 
pulpit  which  has  been  an  object  lesson  all  my  life.  The 
adjacent  cemetery,  which  covers  so  much  of  the  active 
life  I  knew  so  well,  and  whose  closed  careers,  emphasize 
the  fact  that 

"Only  the  memories  of  the  just 
Grow  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust." 
"These  all  to  me  are  matters  of  intense  interest  and 
delight.  I  can  re-people  many  of  the  pews,  above  and 
below^  with  faces  and  forms  long  gone  but  well  remem- 
bered. The  histories  of  many  lives  are  still  fresh  and 
vivid,  and  will  be,  until  the  curtain  of  memory  falls, 
and  all  is  over. ' ' 


A  number  of  the  singers  belonged  some  years  ago  to 
the  choir  of  the  First  Church,  even  as  far  back  as  Dr. 
Jones'  day.  The  roster  of  the  Centennial  Choir  was  as 
follows: 

Mrs.  Albert  Parvin,  Mrs.  John  R.  Graham,  Miss 
Emily  Fithian,  Miss  Tillie  Mulford,  Mrs.  Charles  E. 
Mulford,  Mrs.  Wm.  E.  Potter,  Mrs.  M.  G.  Porter,  Mrs. 
L.  H.  Dowdney,  Mrs.  Robert  DuBois,  Miss  Sallie  M. 
Riley,  Prof  C.  Morton,  Mr.  Robert  DuBois,  Mrs.  Laura 
Gahre,  Mrs.  H.  A.  Jorden,  Mrs.  E.  M.  Fithian,  Mrs.  F. 
R.  Fithian,  Mrs.  P.  K.  Reeves,  Miss  Rie  M.  Whitaker, 
Miss  Julia  Maul,  Miss  Eleanor  Maul,  Miss  Isoleue  Dang, 
Miss  Eoui.sa  Rynick,  Miss  Anna  Lang,  Mrs.  Charles  E. 
Bellows,  Mr.  Thomas  Donaghay,  Mr.  Robert  N.  Husted, 
Mrs.  Robert  N.  Husted,  Mr.  Robert  L.  Young,  Mr.  Wm. 
A.  ShuU,  Mr.  Charles  F.  Reeves,  Miss  C.  B.  Bowen, 
Mi.ss  Lizzie  A.  Whitaker,  Mrs.  Theodore  Edwards,  Miss 
Annie  R.  Reeves,  Mrs.  J.  E.  Kirk,  Misses  Hattie  Shoe- 
maker,   Mary    Rocap,    Lucy    Hewitt,    Gertrude    Moore, 


142 

Lizzie  Irelan,  Mary  Elmer.  Mr.  W.  E.  Rile}-,  Mr.  Charles 
B.  Moore,  Mr.  Thomas  H.  Woodruff,  Miss  Harriet  D. 
F.  Reeves,  Miss  Mary  F.  Reeves,  Mrs.  Charles  F.  Reeves, 
Mrs.  F.  M.  Porch,  Mrs.  S.  W.  Beach,  Mrs.  T.  R.  Janvier, 
Mrs.  C.  J.  Buck,  Mrs.  J.  E-  Robeson,  Messrs.  F.  M. 
Porch,  Charles  E.  Mulford,  Dayton  Frederick,  David  C. 
Jones,  Misses  Marj-  Shoemaker,  Anna  NichoLson,  Mrs. 
Jonathan  Elmer,  Miss  Mary  Minch,  Messrs.  J.  L.  Robe- 
son and  P.  Kennedy  Reeves. 


Note — In  offering  this  book  to  the  public,  we  wish  to  state,  we 
are  not  responsible  for  the  correctness  of  these  addresses  and 
letters  as  we  have  only  acted  as  a  medium  to  bring  the  book  before 
the  public  and  have  reproduced  the  different  articles,  from  copy 
placed  in  our  hands  by  the  committee  on  publication. 

REEVE  &  FITHIAN. 


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